Whew, made it to the end of the school year...

The end of the school year usually hits the Talking Teacher with mixed feelings. I can't get over the fact that the year is done, there are things that you wanted to try and didn't get a chance to do, there are students that you may never see again, there is an emptiness when you stand there and watch the last student walk away...


Teaching is a most noble profession, and I love being in the clasroom, but the Talking Teacher wonders why many get it all twisted. I don't watch NASCAR, but, I understand the fans tune in to see the driver negotiate his way around a track at speeds that glue the driver to the seat of the finely tuned car. People don't tune in to watch the guy who changes the tire, nor the guy who put gas in the tank, or even the main track coach who wears the headphones and keeps in constant contact with the driver. Nope, people don't tune in to see them. Now don't get me wrong, they are important, they have a role to play. BUT the main person is the driver and his car.

The Talking Teacher feels that education has become a bit twisted. Many of us tend to think that the classroom is not the place to be and one needs to strive for "upward mobility" , and those that do have drive, show initiative and are clicked on. Interesting, when I went to school, I went to study education, to become a teacher, to be in the class. I LOVE being in the class. Does my not wanting to be a mentor or some departmental official mean that I have no drive or initiative?

The class is where it is at!! The class is the main event, everything else, everyone else is playing second fiddle, everyone else is support staff...the PIT CREW!!! The teacher and the class can be likened to the driver and the car, they are what makes the difference, the class is where the magic happens, the class is the best place to be, everyone else, mentor, principal, departmental people, directors, you are support staff, you ensure that the teacher has what they need to keep going. Just as the driver and car cannot be a success without the pit crew, we cannot be a success without your support.

Why is it then that many strive for these positions, and please do not get the Talking Teacher wrong, but many think that positions are where it is at. The funny thing is that when they are given these positions, for some strange reason, they do not even play their pit crew role well, I am not betting that when the NASCAR pulls in, the tire changer says," You need to fill out this form, even though you have filled it out every year for the past x years and nothing has changed, fill it out and then we'll see if we can get some tires for you..." Never will you hear that. NEVER!! So why is it that we treat the teacher and the class that way?!?!?! I don't understand...or maybe I do, maybe it is our view of the class and the teacher. When the funk hits the fan, who is the first to get the blame? THE TEACHER!! When things go well, who is the first to get the praise? The principal!! cheesh......


So my good people, after seeing people who have no skills , sorry, I lie, people who have butt kissing skills get position after position and who offer no more information then the snake oil salesman of the wild wild west. Who strove for position, for mere name dropping sake or to feel "important" or because being in the class in underneath them, "me be in the class? Do they know who I am and what I have done? " I say unto you this day-the class and the teacher is the most important part of this whole operation. Don't get it twisted, the classroom is WHERE ITS AT!!!!


This is going to be my last post for a while, going to take a break from it all, change gears, switch mind set, recharge my batteries so that I can be ready for September. To all my teachers, my fellow colleagues out there in the trenches- have a great summer- enjoy it-let you batteries recharge!!!!


PEACE-The TALKING TEACHER IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!