I have been a teacher for about nineteen years. And in that time, I've heard it all. I have the best job because I have weekends off and my evenings free; summers off too; what could be better? I only work nine months out of the year, why do teachers constantly whine about raises?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job and I can't image myself doing anything else. I forced my brother to sit and take spelling tests before he could even speak when I was five years old. Trust me, I always knew I would teach. And I wouldn't be happy doing anything else. But I'm not sure people realize what we as teachers do all day. There are some days not much teaching gets done at all. Can you focus at work when you're hungry, your power has been turned off in your home, and you're not sure if there's food for dinner?

Let me start again, I teach students who have emotional and learning disabilities. And often there isn't much learning that can get done until basic needs are met. My students have so much on their minds by the time they get to me, learning isn't a priority. It's a miracle they even make it to school. I have to meet them halfway and provide what they need for them to feel safe and secure, before they can start taking risks and start learning. This means feeding them sometimes, providing them with school supplies, even basketball shoes when a student has made the team but doesn't have shoes to play in.

I have had homeless students who couch surfed or lived in motels, students in residential treatment, and students in foster care. I often have students who are on probation and sometimes they are wearing an ankle bracelet so their probation officer can keep better track of them. Yes, they often come with baggage.

I've had students whose fresh tattoo or piercing is infected and I've taken care of it; last week I helped a student navigate the court system because he was holding a $1100 ticket and he has no way to pay it. I've spoken to customer service representatives at T-Mobile for students who needed to make an online payment, driven to the store on my planning period to buy a memory card, a belt, socks, or a winter coat for a student in need.

It's not just me, it's all teachers who do these things. One of my dear friends who teaches elementary school special education messaged me the other day; she was using a stick to poke mud out of a student's shoes. She was laughing about it and asked, "is this what we went to college for?" No. It isn't. And as I pick string cheese wrappers out of a 9th grader's backpack and convince him he in fact does need a folder for each class, I often think the same thing. But as teachers, we are more than we ever thought we could be to these kids.

To all of us who work with kids and sewn up a jacket for them, given them our lunch or spotted them a couple dollars so they could buy their own....to those that have waited on hold to help a student with a customer service call because their Enlish isn't the best, I understand. I know how it feels to collapse at the end of the day. I know what it feels like to not want to make a decision after you get home, not even about what to watch on Netflix or what to eat for dinner.

Working with kids is one of the most rewarding and most challenging careers out there. I gave an assignment last week where I wanted students to reflect on their learning. The last question asked if there was anything I could do to help them. One student wrote, "Just keep being awesome." And that's why I do this. I do it to help kids, especially the ones who sometimes slip through society's cracks.

I am so blessed to be a teacher. It was always my dream. Now my dream has shifted to help my students realize theirs.