The Teacher That Does NOT Want Your Grace

In the last several weeks and months I have seen so many pleas from people who are teachers or connected to education. Some of them are begging: “Please give grace to your teachers.”

While that sentiment might be rooted somewhere from the heart, all it does is make me want to come out swinging. I wanna scream from the rooftops:

I DON’T WANT YOUR GRACE.

And here’s why: 

I know who I am.

I know my practice.

I know what has motived me to spend 71% of my take-home-pay on daycare fees and on-site learning support for my own children so that I can teach live online classes every 45 minutes during business hours. That extreme financial risk was something I could not sustain for long, and I did it WITHOUT ANY PROMISES from ANYONE that there would be an end in sight to this situation—and my employer would NOT offer a sibling discount, even in my extreme scenario. (Thank God above and thanks to the people who advocated for teachers to be treated like human beings because TOMORROW I will be considered essential and the financial burden on my family that was leading me into debt in order to simply keep my job will be alleviated.)

However, the point of that anecdote is that there is no logical reason for I did what I did. I sat down at my desk the first day back and spoke to the void: “Well it’s obvious I really love teaching.”

I have PASSION for education and I care about OTHER PEOPLES’ KIDS as much as my own—even while putting my own family financially at risk. I could have literally made far more money by resigning and signing up for pandemic unemployment assistance. 

I did what I did because I am a work-horse filled with a vision for a better future. That future can only be created by teaching critical thinking, humanity and kindness, and by connecting with the world around us.

I know who I am. I know what I do. And I know why I do it.

So don’t you dare give me your grace now, because I don’t need it and I don’t even want it.

In the past very hurtful things have been said directly to me about teachers and their profession (even said by people I care about). 

I am stronger DESPITE all of that. 

So if the people who like to hate-on and trash-talk teachers were to change who they are now, I might not be able to cope with that change. That kind of shift would mean the people who hurt me WERE capable of behaving better and that what they put me thru was unnecessary. But I already framed it. I learned to have tolerance and acceptance for their state of being. And right now I’m too busy doing my job to have to focus on forgiving anyone for the unnecessary things that were done to me in the past. 

So if you’re a cranky-teacher-hater, please stay that way. 

Your outbursts are a reflection of you and not me.

If during this pandemic you have enough resources and confidence that you can execute the educational game better than the teachers you know can do, then by all means PLEASE DO IT! Many individuals have taken that leap of faith during these uncertain times and I’m glad they have! I genuinely hope they succeed in that endeavor and I want their kids to THRIVE. I have real respect for individuals of action and I want you to do well in that endeavor because teachers TAKE JOY in seeing OTHER PEOPLE SUCCEED!  

It’s why we love your kids so much. All we want is to see them learn, grow with their skills sets, and have happy lives. Their growth LITERALLY fuels our passion to stay in the daily fight of education.

Lastly, teachers don’t really need your criticism because they’re their own worst critics. They have probably already been fighting for reforming their new systems more than any critics have. Maybe that’s why there’s been outstanding progress in a minimal amount of time from your educators and administrators despite every weekly (or daily) curve ball the government is sending.

But even when there is criticism (like when a parent might forget their kids’ microphone isn’t on mute and that parent says something rude about the teacher), even in that scenario, teachers monitor and adjust. 

They don’t sit at your job site and criticize your every play-by-play. You might not be able to think if someone was micromanaging you like that. But teachers modify on the spot now, even with parents in their virtual classrooms, and they monitor and adjust for their students because they are all about customer service and making people happy—my dad used to tell me that “even when a customer is wrong, they are right”. That humble mindset and accommodation is exactly the kind of thing teachers do every single day even tho they don’t get credit for it all the time.

But I don’t actually want to change anyone’s hearts so they will give me gratitude and grace. 

I know know how to give myself grace. I know how to reflect on and reform my teaching practice so as to always provide my students the most updated version of me and the content and pedagogy I study. I also know which classic old school practices work best. I know that I am the expert in the classroom, and that technology doesn’t replace me (thank you Bold School).

If you are cranky and scared and mad and frustrated, you have free liberty to take it out on me, because I CAN HANDLE IT! Besides, I certainly don’t want you to take all of that negativity out on your kid. If you’re going thru hard times and explode at me, I know that I should be a bit more gentle or even more patient with your child while they’re learning in my classroom—whether that’s in person or virtually. So BRING IT ON TO ME!

If you’re a teacher or administrator, keep going. You’ve got this. My son’s teacher reassured me he’s going to be catching up the last quarter of last year’s school material ALONG WITH all of this new year’s content by Spring. WOW. Just WOW! I thought my kids might be behind forever because of the 2020 rut we all found ourselves in. I cannot believe the rigor, relevance, and fast pace we’re reaching for all while using new technology and systems and while facing the fall out of the pandemic circumstances. “The future is so bright, I’ve gotta wear shades” to watch you all beat the odds! THE SKY IS THE LIMIT, and I cannot wait to watch you BUST THROUGH THE BARRIERS! This pandemic is NOT a time that is going to send our kids into a poverty trap because of YOU! You’re going to help them SOAR ABOVE IT! Go teachers, Go! You can do this and don’t you listen to the haters. “Haters gonna hate”, but YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU DO! And while you’re at it, you guys should all look into National Board Certification, because you have multiple adult critics watching your every move in every web meeting. So sending in video evidence to the National Board for them to judge your accomplished teaching practice and pedagogy can hardly compare to what you’re facing now. So seriously—in your free time, you should think about it. 

HUGS! KISSES! BOXING GLOVES! PEACE! HOPE! LOVE! And FAITH! You’ve got this!!!!

And now a picture of the new version of “take your kid to work day”. 😂