What teachers do

Good morning all,

I'm up at 3:38 am, stressed because the assistant superintendent is coming to my advisory class today.  I have to be on my game, well dressed and polished, on a Friday, after a truly ridiculous week.  Students have been having a fun game where they harass me in the hallway and during my classes by shouting my name.  The kid who started it was suspended, but he just passed it along to other students.  In the words of another kid, he "started a revolution."  At any rate, I'm not looking forward to today.  I have a good gpa at a great college (Bates), a degree in mathematics with minors in computer science and philosophy, and a Masters in Education from UConn.  No one, especially with those qualifications, should be subjected to this level of harassment with no repercussions.  Humans, in general, should be nicer to one another.

Yesterday, I contacted 10 parents about students' grades, received 2 angry emails about my contact from students, helped the same 2 angry students fix their math grades, taught 3 classes, had lunch duty (where kids yelled my name some more) and updated the school website.  With no real breaks, I had to have another teacher watch my class so I could use the restroom.  In this system, what should be my motivation to stay?  I suppose I could become apathetic, and stop calling and emailing parents of students who aren't achieving mastery.  I don't want to do that.  I care too much for that.

I care about all of my students, and I want them to succeed.  Many of them make my life better, and I can't wait to see what they do with their lives.  The students who harass me are usually outweighed by the great students who are empathetic, caring, and are really wonderful people.  But today, it's hard to get motivated.   It's hard to face a scenario where I know I will be interrupted in my duty to educate students by kids whose only motivation is to interrupt that education and "get" me.  I've done everything I can do to mitigate that situation - I've written referral forms, made phone calls home, conferenced with the student - and he bragged to friends that he was going to "Hey Teacher" himself right into inside suspension.

I suppose what teachers do is they take it.  They turn the other cheek, in the interest of the students who will lose out if they're not there.  However - I'd like to live in a world where I didn't have to deal with this at my job.  Where students treat each other and their teachers with respect, instead of this mean spirited asininity.  The fact that the student is able to continue to gloat over this, that he feels that he is "winning" means that my feelings as the professional are less important than his enjoyment.

At any rate, I wish you all a productive Friday.  Hopefully you all treat each other with respect, and enjoy your day.  I will try my best to enjoy mine, and hopefully convey some mathematical concepts to some students.