When I was little and dreamed of being a teacher,
Playing school in my bedroom, With a chalkboard hanging on the back of my door, My school supplies never included a tourniquet. My stuffed animals never hid for shelter in the corner of the room while we waited in silence. I thought about stickers and stamps Not how I would stop their bleeding. I could never have imagined back in 1985 What teaching in 2020 means. Sometimes I wish I had envisioned a different life, a different calling. This one can break your heart in so many ways that little me never pictured playing school in my bedroom, When I dreamed of being a teacher.
4 Comments
1/21/2020 05:22:11 pm
Kathleen, I hear you. Last year, I was scheduled to provide a full day of PD in one of the LI schools. I was informed by the Asst. Supt. that my PD had to be cut short because the teachers needed to have a session similar to what you are talking about. I had to trade literacy for a session that is so foreign to a teacher's calling. It is unimaginable to those who believe in inquiry, voice, and curiosity-powered classrooms. Life is complicated these days. Tonight's news covered topics that made me sad. Being a teacher in 2020 is full of complicated topics that one would never dream of back when you were a child. Stay Strong. Your thoughts were poetically delivered.
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1/23/2020 03:22:37 am
I just had to sign out my "stop the bleed" kit last week, with instructions not to open it unless absolutely necessary and to look for a training announcement next month. The same thoughts as yours rolled through my mind. I am a military BRAT, considered being a soldier for a hot second but remembered that war is not my cup of tea. Never imagined I'd be trained for the front lines as a teacher. Sad times, indeed.
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1/23/2020 12:54:06 pm
That is a powerful poem, Kathleen. It illustrates so perfectly the stark contrast of what is happening and changing in the world of education in comparison to so many years ago. It is so unsettling.
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1/27/2020 05:10:31 pm
When I dreamed of being a teacher, I never imagined being told to download the CrisisGo app on my phone so I could report an active shooter. Never in my wildest dreams, while playing teacher in my basement with my stuffed animals. :-(
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AuthorKathleen Neagle Sokolowski Archives
February 2024
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