I have never thought about taking a day off school. I have never bad mouthed my students and meant it. I have never thought a lesson I thought was a complete bomb. I have never felt like I can't get my kids to learn.
Until this week.
I feel like my kids have given up on me. The hardest thing a teacher can do is be in a situation where they feel the kids do not want to learn. I just want to flip their desk over and say, "FINE! If you don't want to prove that you can learn this, then fail."
The very fact that I am thinking this is questioning my entire integrity as a successful teacher. My first year of school I was a rock. I would take on any challenging kid. Now it seems like I have so many kids that just don't want to learn.
Oh and don't get me started on parents!
Why do parents wait until the week before they get the grade before they start caring about their kids' grade? I've been e-mail you all year! Why do none of my kids care about their grade until the week before they are about to get it?
At least once a day I tell one of my classes that I truly care and want them to do well and they need to be responsible and care about learning the material so they can get a good education and good grades.
Well they don't. Until the day they get the grade.
When I learned how to drive a car, I didn't learn that I needed to start using the brakes after I made the mistake of slamming into the car in front of me. I understood what needed to be done to learn how to drive.
The same applies with these kids.
I hate feeling so helpless.
It's rough. Hopefully since then you've had a day that reaffirmed your belief in yourself. There are weeks like that - if you are lucky (and a good teacher), they don't come along very often.
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