Pat on the Back!

*Pat Pat*

I have finished my 3rd year of teaching people. I welcome summer vacation with open arms (I can almost hear Journey right now).

I'm just going to pat myself on the back and say this:

I have survived 3 years of inner city teaching. And this is no small feat. I hear kids swear. They swear at me. Parents yell in my face. Pressure is high to succeed from all stakeholders. I grade their long research papers. I break up potential fights. I look like a fool repeating inner city jargon. I am a therapist, a social worker, a nurturer, a disciplinarian...oh, and I plan lessons that are basically like stage productions every.single.day. I study history so I don't look like an idiot teaching it. I clean up their trash. Listen to their issues. Go to meetings. Hear an onslaught of guilt trips for not doing enough. Am told by my students that I "do too much" (ghetto accent in there). Yell at kids for misbehaving and call administrators to keep them in line. Work with students one-on-one and let them do test corrections after school for a test they never even studied for because they're lazy. And the list goes on...

Yes, I have survived year 3. Definitely better than years 1 and 2, completely. But seriously, pat on the back! Who knew I would ever do such a thing and that I have done it for 3 years????  Here comes year 4! (can you believe it??)

But first...

SUMMER VACATION!

Can't wait to relax by that pool or beach this summer!

(this is when all of you are jealous of my job right now but you all know that you wouldn't really want my job so no need to tell me that you're jealous because that's just plain ridiculous)