Tag Archives: kids

I’m Told I’m Not Allowed To Complain

Kids/Teaching, , , , ,

Barista: “The usual?”

Me: “No, I already had that this morning. Now I just want a frappacino. It’s a 2-coffee kind of day.”

Barista: “I hear ya. Monday!”

Me: “Yes! Ok, well, no. I’m on summer break. I’m told I’m not allowed to complain.”

Barista: “Oh please, teachers can complain all they want. Your job is HARD. And exhausting. You need the summer!”

Me: “Wow, thank you! I really appreciate you saying that. Most non-teachers don’t get that. Seriously. That made my day.”

Barista: “Absolutely! And stay tuned, Starbucks is doing a ‘Teacher Appreciation’ week when you guys start up again in September!”

And just when I was starting to like you, you mentioned September. 

Jackhole. 

You’re Welcome 

Kids/Teaching, , , , , , ,

A graduating 5th grader, who I taught in Kindergarten, 1st, and 3rd grades, stopped by my classroom, said hello to me, reached into a giant bag of thank you cards and fished around until he finally found the one he came to deliver. 

And then he promptly handed it to my classroom paraprofessional (who did not even notice him because she was, as usual, deeply entrenched in her erotica novel.)

Because the card was for her. Not for me. 

The kid made that very clear when he looked at me, looked at her, looked back at me and said “This is for Miss Mary.”

Then he left without saying goodbye. 

  

Jail

Kids/Teaching, , , ,

Today the NYC Department of Ed added Pandora and Netflix to their list of banned websites. Already on this list is every single shopping website, including Amazon.com, where all of us teachers have our class supply wish lists. 

Co-worker: “All shopping sites of any kind are banned. It’s like jail.”

Kid: “No, you can shop online in jail.”

Right. Of course you can. 

  

Hindsight is 20/20

Kids/Teaching, Mental Health, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Being a Special Education teacher is a great profession for me because, given that I have ADD and anxiety, and given how that affected my own school experience, I can totally relate to how these kids are feeling, and can therefore be super patient and supportive. 

….is what I thought when I got into this profession. 

What actually happened is that I signed up to work in a hot, dirty classroom full of 30 kids who represent everything I hate about myself. 

This is less a recipe for patience than it is a recipe for pulling my hair out strand by srand, finding the nearest table, crawling under it, and rocking back and forth in the fetal postion. 

Good intentions, though.