Member-only story
Dear Teachers, Why Can’t You Just Be Nice to Students?
It’s like, half of your job description…
If I’m being honest (unlike my ex), working at an elementary school has been one of the hardest jobs I have ever had. I’ve been working at various elementary schools, at various job levels, for about seven years now, and in that amount of time, I’m pretty sure I’ve racked up enough good karma to last me several lifetimes. If I’m being doubly honest, the most difficult part of working in the school system hasn’t been the kids. By and large, it’s been the adults who also work there. Since we’re continuing hypotheticals like working hard and being honest, I’ll add one more: If I had a penny for every single time I’ve seen a teacher or another adult at one of the many, many schools I’ve worked at be mean to a kid, I would no longer be in student debt. Or credit card debt. And in fact, I would probably have a down payment by now for the $3.1 million dollar house in Santa Cruz that I really really want.
In the seven years I’ve been working around school, that’s one thing I have never gotten used to. And I don’t think I ever will. I get it — teaching is a HARD job. One of the hardest. The hours are long, the students can be really difficult, Common Core is more mysterious than anything Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle ever came up with, and yeah — the pay is…
