When euphemisms and a fake loving smile are all that restrain you from a primal scream, you're facing the infinite struggle of a teacher. As a human being, I feel like we are wired to care about other human beings, but that does not mean that we all show respect towards others. Sometimes a mere five second conversation with a fifth grader can make me question my belief in goodness and compassion; trying to be loving towards a screaming third-grader or a pre-teen middle-schooler that just discovered the wonders of sarcasm isn't necessarily an enticing facet of a job description.
There's a level of fulfillment that enriches the soul when a student is able to figure something out with your help. Smiles illustrate excitement and relief blankets the stress and frustration that comes from a confusing problem. It really evokes a sense of duty and necessity for teachers because, after all, education is championed as the ticket to success and the closest things to heaven that this world can offer. Doubt never encroached my belief that people send their children to school because it was what they deemed necessary for their offspring to succeed and teachers are the ones who must execute that dream, no matter how difficult the task really is. The most difficult part about teaching is ultimately the most important, the students.
From the perspective of many parents, a teacher's role can be broken down into about three parts: keep my kid safe, tell them what they need to know, and make sure that they come back to me in one piece during pickup. All of these are true and necessary for a teacher, but a lot of times breaking down their job like this dilutes the role of an educator into step-by-step, educational babysitting. All of the things that I listed above are necessary, but they usually come with the expectation the teacher will be able trounce over defiance, laziness, and battles. Regardless of what happens in the day a teacher has to make sure that students can take a lesson from the classroom and drag it out into the world outside of school: now that's quite a task.
Every parent knows that their child is special and that is true; all people are special and unique. But an important thing to remember is that this translates into the classroom in both beautiful and disastrous ways. With each child comes a set of interests, passions, struggles and approaches to life. The teacher, therefore must balance those three parts that I mentioned before which is hard enough. Now, add maybe twenty or so students to the group all of whom have their own set of difficulties. After you do that, add four more classes to that equation and you have a daunting task that teachers are presented every single day. That they must teach. While care and compassion is something that I know all teachers have, they straining of those two seems to be a part of the job description.
