More than meets the eye

People have always told me that it takes a very special and patient person to be a teacher, and then questioned why I would go to school for so many years to not make any money. I always answered proudly by saying " I rather be happy and feel like I made a difference rather than surounding my self with luxury". I believe that I will find "luxury" in changing the lives of children.

Yes, teachers are underpaid and undervalued, but I wonder why? Most kids in our society attend public schools. They are everywhere and even some families choose where they will raise their family based on how good a school district is and what types of test scores the schools produce. Children spend 5 days out of the week to go to school and are expected to learn what they need to know in a year. And then, they go on to another grade and continue this cycle until they graduate or until they are old enough to decide that they do not want to attend school. Some parents seems to view school as a sort of day care program for when they are at work.

While reading Biklin´s “Can Elementary school teaching be a career?”, I was once more taken by the fact that teachers do not get the recognition they deserve in society. Okay, yes I will admit, going through school as a young kid I thought of teachers in such a negative way. I never thought teachers did anything and did their jobs only because that’s what paid the bills. I was placed in so many different learning environments and have encountered many different teachers as well. I grew up with the allegation that teachers were just there to push the “smart” students and not really pay attention to the “not so smart” students. Growing up falling into the “not so smart” category, I experienced this first-hand. I feel that as a student, I fell through the cracks and was a student that was “left behind”. Living this experience first-hand and knowing that there are other students that feel the same way, it’s no wonder that some teachers are viewed negatively and do not get the recognition they need.

It’s not until I started getting older and became more understanding of the way our society is that I started to see teachers differently. Teachers have not only politics to deal with, but also, many different learning styles that they must engage in order for students to learn what is necessary. While trying to come up with new inventive ways to teach, they are also going against time, because students need to be at a certain skill level by the time the year is over.

I believe that if teachers want the recognition that we deserve, we should strive to make sure that every child coming out of our classroom is packed with the knowledge that they need in order to succeed. This knowledge not only comes from being book smart but also having the confidence to question what they do not know without being penalized for it.

There is a new society of teachers being made right now and in order for us, as a teaching community, to be viewed differently, we have to make the change within our own classrooms. A teacher has about 30 different students in her classroom. So, if a teacher is changing that classroom and the teacher next door is doing the same, and so on, the whole school could be changed and viewed differently, possibly causing a wave effect that would change the schooling system all together. I believe it is up to the new generation of teachers to change society's view. In order for this change to happen, teachers also need to be equipped with the right tools. First off, teachers that get into the field must have the passion and patience to teach. We have to realize that teaching isn’t just rainbows and songs. Many students of different cultures, race, and classes will be coming into our classrooms and each one of those students have different experiences that they come in with. It is up to the teacher to tap into the way their individual minds work in order to reach every student.

In chapter 2 of the book, Ayers discusses how teachers are to see a student for who they are, and not for what skills they bring into the classroom. This was my problem with the school system growing up. Rather than pointing out the skills that I could do well, I was constantly bombarded with the negatives about the skills I could not do well. Ayers also discusses how lesson plans are “one-directional…”. This is valid to me because it seems that most teachers have their lesson plans written out for the year and they are to follow this plan. I agree with Ayers claim because not all lesson plans work for every student or every group. As a student, I know that I learn differently than my peers, and what works for them may not work for me. This doesn’t mean that I am smarter or dumber than my fellow students; it just means that our brains work differently and it is nothing that we can control. I do believe that children should be seen for their strengths rather than their weakness and it is up to the new generation of teachers to make sure that students are seen for who they are and not for what they cannot achieve. Otherwise, we will be failing students if we cannot find ways to reach them.

Although teachers seem to be undervalued and are underpaid, we have to view ourselves as positive influences. As teachers, we get to shape the minds of our future society. We have to view ourselves in a positive light in order for society to see the significance of what teachers do. We have got to push ourselves and all of the students we encounter to be better learners. Teachers and students both can learn from one another. I believe if every single student had a positive view of their teachers that this could possibly change the view that our society has of teachers in a matter of years.

“In learning to know other things, and other minds, we become more intimately acquainted with ourselves, and are to ourselves better worth knowing.”
-Philip Gilbert Hamilton