My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it. ~Abraham Lincoln
You’d be grumpy, too, if you woke up and found yourself at work. ~Bob Thaves
I am a friend of the working man, and I would rather be a friend than be one. ~Clarence Darrow
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The End of the First Day for a First Year Teacher
You held it together
all day,
through the snubs
of teachers
joking
with each other
but never with you,
through the students
who ignored you
and talked
while you were
trying to teach
through the teenage girls
combing their hair
and applying
makeup in class
through lunch duty
while you stood there
alone wondering
who had thrown
food in your
direction
and then that awful staff
meeting
where you sat at a table
by yourself
and listened to the principal
talk about state
standards and proficiencies
and had no idea
what he was talking about.
Finally, you walked
out of school,
head held high,
holding a book bag
full of papers
to correct.
You got into your car.
Your shoulders slumped
and your lips quivered
as you drove away.
~Linda Jacobs
October 30, 2007
13 comments:
Aw. My chin's quivering, too. How awful. I hope it got better. I do!
Oh! I can't imagine, but I can understand.
i just wanted to hug you.. what an event that must be... i cannot imagine trying to teach kids who already know everything... or work with people that are provenly better than me... i salute you!!!
Wonderful account. I could actually picture you diminishing paragraph after paragraph. It's a wonder you could see over the steering wheel to drive home! But good for you for not giving up. I think we've all been there at the dawn of our careers. Hang in there.
D
Thank you everyone for your kind words.
Tumblewords: It did get better and now I love teaching but those first few days were hell!
Sister ae: Most people think teaching is a breeze because of our schedule, but I'm totally exhausted when I get home. It's like any other job.
Paisley: Thanks for the hug! Yes, a first year teacher goes through hell, but it is worth it.
Dennis: I did hang in there (been teaching for 25+ years) and now can't imagine my life without these kids who still sometimes drive me nuts but also give me so much satisfaction.
Suddenly, student teaching has come rushing back. This is so accurate!
First days are just so dreadful! Glad it got better for you!
This is very nicely done.....like Dennis observed, you can sense the diminishment. I thought you would go with a sense of accomplishment at the end, but the route you took was far truer. I taught English as a foreign language when I first graduated and teaching is by far the hardest job I've ever done. It's utterly draining, though can be a lot of fun.
500 years on from my probationary year as a teacher I can remember the feelings so effectively communicated here.
It gets better, incidentally...
Jessica, my student teaching did not prepare me for the reality of teaching on my own, unfortunately. I was in a progressive high school where the kids were so good, it almost wasn't fun! My first day teaching junior high was an eye-opener!
Crafty, Thanks goodness it got better for me! I'd have been long gone by now.
Jo, I was so tempted to have the poem end on an up note since my teaching career did improve so much but not that first day and, really, not that first year!
Dick, Yeah, that first year either knocks the stars out of your eyes or toughens you up. Glad it got better for you as it did for me.
And we say kids can be cruel - well of course - we set such a good example! My first teaching days were not as awful as yours but I well remember going back because of the kids and NOT the coworkers!
There's not a word wasted in this - the spareness works well to set the tone
I can so relate to this point of view. Hang in there!
Ow. Brings it back all too vividly.
Post a Comment