New Approach

Okay, several people have mentioned to me that I'm a little obsessed with teacher salaries and how teachers are perceived, etc.

Today, I am changing my ways!

It's true what Governor Christie said: I knew what I was getting into when I chose to become a teacher. Yes, I just agreed with the Governor of New Jersey. See, I told you I was changing. Of course, he's changing everything about being a teacher including making the perceptions of teachers even worse than they were, but I'm not going there. Today.

I love my job. I don't think I express that enough. I love working out how to teach various skills and texts. I love working with high school students and watching them grasp higher concepts as well as come into their own as individuals. I love going to work each day so much, that I spend a lot of the summer looking forward to the fall!

Sure, I think teachers should be paid more for what we do. I think we're a much more valuable resource than people, in general, believe, but I am through whining about what I make.

No, instead, I am going to set out to try to help change the perception of education. I don't think the general public quite understands just how important the actual education in schools is. I think most people, parents and students alike, see going to school as a hurdle to getting into a good college and getting into a good college as just a jumping off point to getting a good job. That is patently false.

There is so much to learn in school that can enhance one's life in so many ways starting with just understanding one's self and reaching out to understanding the world at large. That's just in high school! College is a place to experiment and find what passions one has, what drives one to move forward in life. Education is about making one's self the best one can be. It is not a tool for social advancement.

So, I am taking up the standard that was passed on to me by my junior year of high school English teacher, Mrs. Herman, when she referred to teaching, particularly English, as "fighting the good fight." I'm going to try to stop complaining, and just focus on teaching in all aspects.