Reflections of a Teacher and Writer

 

I will confess that I did indeed disappear from this blog for a while. Ah, blogging. It is difficult to keep up with while also writing books, poems, short stories, etc. This past year, I added yet another hat to my ever-growing collection: teaching. 

Yes, I took on a full-time teaching position. For the past year, I have been teaching High School English. If you are a teacher, then you already understand why my blog has been a tumbleweed in the wind. I never fully grasped before how much professional development, overtime hours, and exhaustion go into working as the teacher of record for a full year. I'll be going back next year, so I can forget about writing anything other than brief snippets of poetry for a while... hopefully not forever. 

In college, I wrote my thesis paper about the teacher shortage. I outlined causes and research that backed up my findings, as well as possible solutions. Little did I know how intense that shortage was to become and how useful my research about work-life balance would be. 

The teaching field is sporting a tumbleweed of its own. We are in a crisis. Trained, professional teachers are fleeing the field en mass. I wonder just how many people are aware of the potential results. If schools can't get anyone to fill those positions, then students lose educational value. If enough teachers are unavailable, then we may see schools closing completely. Parents will then be fully responsible for their children's education. Many parents will have to leave work to educate their kids, and then the workforce will lose half its workers. Some families would likely not be able to make ends meet at all. Until the Covid pandemic, I did not think often of what would happen to society if schools closed down. Now, I think about it all the time. It is not a pleasant picture. 

Be kind to the teachers that show up and do the best they can to educate the youth of our nation. We need these people to feel appreciated and supported. Schools need it, families need it, and society needs it. 

To the teachers who have been teaching for 10 to 20 years and beyond... I salute you!