The Whirldwind Ride That Is Teaching
Saturday, March 21, 2020
“Miss Anie is a bitter woman because she doesn’t have a love life!” said a ninth grader I reprimanded for concealing a note during a weekly quiz in 2015. And believe me, that even sound harsher in Filipino. It may have been nicer too if it was said to my face instead of lashing it out on other students who, quite frankly, have nothing to do with the entire shenanigan. I called her mom to discuss the incident and a week later, that student transferred to a public school.
I’ve been called a lot of things since I started this profession; it almost feels like I’m walking on eggshells in a watered-down field where everything I do would either be wrong or never enough. This is teaching, I tell myself. I make an uphill climb every day knowing full well that this is what I’ve signed up for. Sure, I teach small classes in a private school, it can't be that bad, right? Oh, how I wish that was the case. Teaching small classes sounds easy. It has its perks but it can also be surprisingly tricky. In a small class, I am presented the opportunity to teach my students as individuals and to see them progress and grow is incredibly rewarding but as soon as personality clashes, kids picking on each other and they simply don’t get along, a small class can be a nightmare too. When interpersonal problems are magnified, things can be downright frustrating – throw in parents’ involvement into the mix, then you'll have the perfect blend of drama on your plate!
I’ve been called a lot of things since I started this profession; it almost feels like I’m walking on eggshells in a watered-down field where everything I do would either be wrong or never enough. This is teaching, I tell myself. I make an uphill climb every day knowing full well that this is what I’ve signed up for. Sure, I teach small classes in a private school, it can't be that bad, right? Oh, how I wish that was the case. Teaching small classes sounds easy. It has its perks but it can also be surprisingly tricky. In a small class, I am presented the opportunity to teach my students as individuals and to see them progress and grow is incredibly rewarding but as soon as personality clashes, kids picking on each other and they simply don’t get along, a small class can be a nightmare too. When interpersonal problems are magnified, things can be downright frustrating – throw in parents’ involvement into the mix, then you'll have the perfect blend of drama on your plate!
For the most part of my career, I’ve met parents who are respectful and who wholly believed in my contribution to their child's school growth but there are also those who are not. Others would even have the audacity to tell how I should manage my class. I've been astounded to see how some parents would readily defend their child when I tell them about behavior incident in class and on certain occasions, some of them even see me as the enemy. I can't tell you how much this weakens the partnership between teacher and parent. If only parents would step back and get a good look at the whole landscape before challenging what we have to say about their child, the teaching world could be a slightly better field. Believe it or not, teachers also want the best for their students too, as parents do. We are on the same side. It wouldn't break a bone for you guys to partner with us.
Our job is hard enough without being immersed to constant scrutiny and being unfairly judged on our student’s performance. Teaching and all that it entails is amazing at best but I never thought I'd ever want a break from it every once in a while to maintain some sanity. I don’t want to push this passion over the edge and inadvertently turn what I love into something I don’t. If I’m going to teach, if I’m going to make teaching all that it can be, I want to do it right. I want to do it with a smile on my face. I want to always have that warm and fuzzy feeling I get every time a student understands a lesson I taught or when little boys remember to wash their hands after using the toilet. I don’t want teaching to be forced. That is what I promise to myself.
1 comments
I feel you! I've been teaching in private schools since 2016, and most of the students these days are too emotional and most of the time, when disciplined, they get angry instead of trying to reflect on the things they've done.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, I have never come across irate parents. Teaching, to be honest, is such a hard but emotionally-fulfilling job especially when students learn from you.
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