The Hate is Only Temporary

It's that time of year. The most frustrating time of year.

The school year's basically over. 3 days per class left. They don't care anymore (some never did), and you're just trying to hang on until the end with all your books ready to turn in, all your grades completed, all your loose ends tied off.

Then it hits you...

"I HATE THEM."

You don't really hate them. It's just that the mix of your push to the end and their spring fever is, well, volatile. You'd like to just give them the Final Exam and get them the heck out. They'd like to just take the Final Exam and get the heck out. Neither of you can be satisfied.

You hate each other. But it's only temporary. What you both really want is to move on.

From the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, Tuesday, May 20, 2008:

FOCUS ON ... The parents’ role in education

The Wednesday editorial “Watch the work” outlined the expectations that your Editorial Board has for the Fort Worth school district and its individual schools regarding student achievement.
If these expectations are not met, the editorial suggested, “parents need to be at school asking why not.”
A more appropriate action would be for those parents to look into a mirror and ask:
— Did I read to my child from the day he or she was born?
— Did I teach my child the ABCs?
— Did I turn off the TV occasionally and play with my child?
— Did I teach my child to value education?
— Did I teach my child to say “please,” “thank you” and “no, thank you”?
— Did I teach my child to respect his or her elders and play nicely with his or her peers?
If the answer to these questions is “no,” the most dedicated, well-trained teacher in the world will have difficulty getting that student to achieve at a high level.
It’s time for parents to realize that they are their children’s first teachers and to take that responsibility seriously, instead of blaming well-intentioned teachers who have committed their lives to improving the lot of the kids they serve every day.
— William W. Thorburn, Benbrook

Couldn't have said it better myself. And if it's the same William Thorburn I graduated high school with, that would explain why it's so well-said.

The JOY of Teaching...

OK, here's the REAL thing teachers love:

IT ENDS.

Not your career (although that does eventually end). The school year. There is nothing quite as refreshing as the day or moment when you look at the calendar, consider your "To Do" list, and realize that you only have a couple of things before you can prepare your Final Exam and be FINISHED!

Almost every other job simply has a constant drudgery to it, where you do essentially the same things over and over, looking forward to 2 weeks where you (theoretically) don't think about work.

In teaching, every year comes to an end, where you put everything away for awhile. Sure, you'll have to dig it all out next year, but that will be with new faces and new issues. What's done is TRULY done. And the satisfaction of that closure is priceless.