“Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” -George Bernard Shaw’s “Man and Superman”
As a middle-school teacher, I’m one of the “those who can’t” people who knowingly made a career move to be ridiculed by pre-teens on a daily basis. I like to think it keeps me humble, but if I’m being honest, it has mainly taught me that middle schoolers will always make you feel awkward no matter what age you are.
Depending on who you ask, I’m a Communist peddler of CRT, an expert brainwasher, who wants to help all children identify as non-binary. OR, I’m an angel-of-mercy saving children left and right from the mean inner-city streets, while bestowing pearls of wisdom as I inspire all those who surround me.
So to clarify:
- My comrades and I are not Communist. Have you seen the way we like to dress during school spirit week or any holiday that we can coordinate our outfits with? We would all be miserable wearing dull-gray jumpsuits all the time.
- As far as CRT, when people started getting mad about it, I was confused because I thought they were talking about “Culturally Responsive Teaching” which is very different from “Critical Race Theory”.
- Brainwashing- if I have that magical ability, then why are my 8th graders so mean to me when they don’t get their way on intramural days?
- I have never taught a class on how to be gay or straight or wherever someone may fall on the spectrum of gender and sexuality.
- I don’t “save” children1. I introduce them to opportunities to live up to their full potential. There is a big difference between teaching someone to advocate for themselves and providing access to quality education, and treating them like victims that need to be rescued.
- For every instance I say something profound, there’s 100 other instances where I stammered and “ummmmmm’d” and asked, “Can you repeat that?” before giving lackluster advice.
As for who I really am as a teacher, I hope that for now you will simply see me as “Mrs. Howard”- the sarcastic, humorous, empathetic, dorky, passionate educator who loves her students even when I want to call them not so nice names. If “Mrs. Howard” is too formal for you, you can call me “Howard” like my colleagues. Unless you are my student and somehow you found my blog. I’m still “Mrs. Howard” to you.
- If taken out of context, that sounds like I have a policy where if a child is danger, I walk away. I want to make it clear that I would try to help a child who was in harm’s way. Unless they did something stupid that would also risk my life in the process. Then they’re on their own… Dammit, I’d probably still try to save them. My husband is going to be so mad at me if I die saving a kid who thought it was funny to climb the side of a building, but then fell on me as I try to catch them. And before you ask- Yes, I have stopped students from climbing the sides of buildings. ↩︎
Those who can't... 