Reading Reflection 4

The next section in “Teaching Hope” is called “Disillusionment”. The first page of the section alludes to the idea that teaching is painful. Our hopes and dreams of being the teacher that can save the world, make a difference in students’ lives and be the best teacher out there are brought to reality. This reality is that they may not happen, we may not always succeed, but our focus is not always winning or succeeding but instead continually finding and holding onto hope.

With the section beginning the talk of testing and school standards, it makes me frustrated that it is true, so many tests only do just that, test, and on things that most children do not know. “So why can’t they just ask us without using these stupid, confusing questions? If they don’t get us ready for college and just make us frustrated, why are we using them? They never ask about things that we know about. It seems as though they were set up to put us down or something.” (176) Why are we holding students, children to standards that are unreasonable and unreachable. But the idea of testing is only one of many problems that teachers face, along with minimal resources, bad classroom environments, no funding, being underpaid, and having the students labeled before they even walk into your class makes being a teacher as difficult as running a country. How are teachers supposed to effectively do their job without having the proper tools? Most schools, teachers, and administrative staff could reply that you find a way to make it work. Although as an optimistic person I would admit that I would do everything to try to overcome these obstacles, this doesn’t solve the problem of the obstacles being there in the first place. We need to fix these problems all the while understanding that no child is “un-teachable” there are only teachers who can’t teach.

Saying that, knowing that all children can be reached at some point, I turn to think, we may reach them in our classroom but how can we help their entire life? When do we stop being “just” a teacher, what can we really do to help that homeless teen, the pregnant girl, the boy who is beaten and has two parents on drugs? How do we help each student? We want to take on the world as teachers, but can we really? Do we strive to reach all or strive to really help some? It may be easier in many of these situations to turn away but if this is our decision we do nothing but add to the problem. There was a point “when it became easier to turn their backs rather than help those kids” but we CAN’T let ourselves follow down this path of ignorance. We need to help. I find myself wondering where to draw an emotional line. If I could, I would take every single one of my students home, but I can’t. So how do I balance being emotionally involved to help and being too connected? I am still working on that one.

SO many people in our lives as future teachers and in the lives of our students will have a say on what “should” be done. But we must realize that the “should be’s” and the judgments, the stereotypes, the racism, gender-ism, and so forth are only things that make us realize what long road we have ahead to change this world. We must be on the right path to help change because no one is going to do things “for” you, you need to do them yourself. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” (201) Deciding to be a teacher is something that we must deal with every morning we wake up, it is a life-long journey. It is a 24 hours a day 7 days a week job whether or not people admit it, but emotionally and mentally your classroom and those students are a part of who you will be and become as a teacher. As with previous educational systems, thoughts and practices, everyday will be a challenge but waking up to the reality of teacher the good AND the bad is crucial. Learning never to give up, never quit, that is what makes a teacher.