Be True to Your School

Over the summer there was a negative article published about my school district in our local paper. I don't often read the paper so I don't know exactly what it said but we received an e-mail from our superintendent that explained the circumstances. Since then more people than usual have been asking my opinion of our district when they find out where I work. I'll tell you what I tell them.

I truly enjoy where I work. This will be my 5th year teaching anywhere and my 5th year teaching at this particular high school. That means that I don't have any personal experiences with any other district against which to compare my current district. My husband is in a different boat. He worked for what I'll call "district A" for 5 years before coming to our current district. From my personal experiences and from seeing what happened with my husband years ago I am not only thankful that I work where I do but I'm proud.

You see, every school and every district has problems and there is such a wide variety of what those problems can be: lack of community/parent/admin support, old buildings, not enough money for basic supplies, drugs/sex/alcohol, poor pay for teachers, poor healthcare options, unruly students, unruly co-workers, etc. The list can go on and on. You know what problems I personally have with my district? I don't always agree with their decisions. I sometimes feel that my budget is too small or isn't flexible enough. There have been a few co-workers who rubbed me the wrong way. In the past I had too many preps for me to handle. That's it. Those problems are so tiny! I am never going to agree with every decision made. I don't work for a rich district so of course money feels tight. I can be as pleasant as the day is long but that doesn't mean I will be friends with everyone. I now have only one prep so that problem is solved. I truly do not understand why some people in our community think poorly of our district when they have no first-hand experience. They should come to my class! Yes there are days where I am frustrated but my co-workers support me, my students make me smile, and admin has my back. How many teachers can say that?

Recent Happenings
Yesterday was some more professional development and time to work in our teams and rooms. I saw this great TED talk about how we view stress affects how we react to it. I also got a refresher on brain development which explains (but does not excuse!) the behavior of teenagers.

Today we had all day to work in our rooms, meet in our teams, work on lesson plans, etc. My husband had a bad day but out of respect for his privacy (he doesn't like posting much on the internet) I won't go into it. It's tough hearing about his bad day but not being able to do much to help. :( I worked mostly on getting my room together. I'm really excited for what I did to one of my cork boards! It's filled with graduation announcements, thank you notes, and drawings from my former students. I have it right next to my desk as a reminder of why I do what I do.

I've got to run because my husband is trying to fix our leaking roof. I definitely don't want him going up and down a ladder without me to hold it!
-Clare G. S.