Teacher Things

  Dear Teacher Friends, I’m not a great writer. I’m sure any English teacher who reads this will cringe internally at my constant misuse of the comma and my lengthy, run-on sentences. I’m not usually one to wax eloquent about my personal thoughts and feelings in a public way. And, really, this isn’t all that eloquent, but I’m finding it difficult keeping this all in, so I guess here it goes. I have been a high school teacher, (not of English,) for seven years, which really isn’t that long compared to many, but it’s a significant chunk of my life. Each year, the job comes with challenges, such as: changes in expectations, grading practices, curriculum, turnover in administration, and the ridiculous bureaucracy of it all, not to mention the attempt to nurture, inspire, and educate teens at arguably one of the most emotionally fragile points in their lives. And then there are the individual life circumstances of each student, many of which, I can say, are the furthest thing from ideal...