I’m thankful that it’s currently summer vacation. It gives me and other teachers time to recharge and get away from the craziness that is teaching. Administrators will act like they know where we’re coming from, but that is all talk on their part. They’re used to what their job entails and have July for their vacation time. I have a magnet on my refrigerator that says the 3 best reasons for teaching are: June, July, and August. Don’t forget the weekends!

The sad truth is I sometimes feel that we are wishing our lives away. How many times have you said, “If I can only make it until Friday.” Honestly, you could replace Friday with any other word that means a break, holiday, vacation, weekend, and so forth. Recently, I’ve realized that I’m closing in on retirement and I have less than 5 years to go. I feel both a sense of accomplishment and a sense of anxiety about the unknown.

One thing I’ve noticed from administration has been the number of preps or subject areas they throw on me to teach. Administration has increased them. I tend to be a sensitive person, so I sometimes interpret slights where none were meant. But, I can’t help but to feel that my higher ups are trying to quicken my retirement. It’s been a long time since they’ve taught so they don’t remember or understand what it takes to do a great job. Plus, they are critical of what you do and how you do it. They just don’t understand where we’re coming from and why we do what we do in the classroom.

Don’t even get me started on the new generation of students! They are cellphone addicted, social media obsessed, brain stems. They want everything to be quick and easy and have no patience to learn anything they perceive as difficult. They have no perseverance. It’s disappointing how the school districts pussy foot around state cellphone policy because they don’t want to upset their parents. This just makes everything more difficult for the teachers. Have any one of our critics tried to get a cellphone addicted student to put their cellphone in those ridiculous cellphone pouches that each classroom has to have hanging up where the students enter the classroom? It’s a fight I hate and it’s one that I’ve been evaluated on even though it’s not something directly on our evaluations!

One thing I’m trying to work on is putting teacher evaluations into perspective. First, they need me. As much as they try to make you feel worthless, they would be hard up to get a substitute that can do what you can. Secondly, as much as they try to act like their evaluations are there to help you improve and they are purely objective, it’s a lie. I’ve received poor evaluations that were based upon an administrator taking out her hatred on me and what was a lesson that students loved and were really engaged, she failed to find one thing positive about it. How could I “improve” in her mind if there was NOTHING worthwhile in that lesson? Overall, it’s a THEY problem, not a ME problem. I keep thinking, this too shall pass. I’ve seen it all come and go and I’m sure this will too. So, keep your head up high, take care of yourself and your family, and keep teaching as only you know how to. I know you got this!