BLogarithm

Yes, like many of you,  I was an 80′s baby and I was raised on Transformers…thus my title’s allusion to the cartoon…but I digress.

While my last post focused on the need for genuine care to be successful in an urban setting, this post focuses on some of the ugliness that invariable comes with working with a segment of the American public who are often marginalized, and thus, not always so pleasant.

Many of my students ( past, present, and future ) come from homes where abundance and plenty are not the norm. I’m not saying that financially, they’re all struggling, but unmet needs are more the rule than the exception in schools like my own.

When your needs aren’t being met at 11, 12, and 13 years of age you often have to assume responsibilities normally reserved for adults. Such responsibilities that early on in life make you feel like an adult…which makes it difficult to play the child’s role just because the clock on the wall ticks between 8:30am and 3:45pm. Many of our students don’t know how to turn the adult role off so if you come at them the wrong way they’ll tell you what they think about you and your mother and your rules….if you don’t first earn their respect.be

For most first year teachers earning their students’ respect if a foreign concept. Many of us walk into the classroom feeling like we’re the authority and as such we are automatically afforded the respect we feel that we deserve. We don’t take the time to get to know the students personally, their interests, needs, wants, or anything else that matters to THEM.

If you don’t show respect to them first…be prepared to deal with a barrage of insults and insolent behavior.

It happens to all new teachers in rough neighborhoods. You get cursed out. You may even get assualted ( I’ve never been hit by a student…on purpose…but there are those among us who have) . Know what you’re getting into. Plan ahead and make sure you can deal with an insult or two.

My wife is such an awesome person and she is an inspiration to me everyday because she always manages to find ways to put what I’m feeling into words.

She shared a quote with me via google reader yesterday and I’d like to share it with you.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. – Lord Buddha

I’m often asked to explain how I can work in a middle school on “that side of town.” My answers are usually the waffling wishy washy “I do it for the kids” type of answers which are never really good enough to convey how I truly feel about my work.

During my first years of teaching I took the job and everything that came with it very seriously and very personally which was ironic because I did everything in my power to remain detached and impersonal with my students. My first years were not very fulfilling or successful because I removed that which is key to success in this job; compassion.

Teaching is one of those things that really should be about other people because the pay is simply too low to be about one’s self. And yet, there are many teachers who make the job about themselves and are full of many things…none of them being genuine care for their students.

I’ve had rough patches with many past students and I am still going through rough patches with my repeater and many of the new students but I always have to check myself to make sure that all of my actions are coming out of a concern for their well being.

To quote a fellow edu-blogger, many of us find ourselves on that ledge where we have to decide if we want to keep teaching or make that terrible climb into an administrative non-teaching job. Compassion is one of the things that keeps me on the ledge. Without it, I don’t think anyone can truly survive all that this job, particularly in urban districts, throws at you.