To all the teachers without a classroom this year
To those of you rockstar teachers with no classroom this year: I feel you.
I moved this past fall to an area not hiring any science teachers within an hour of where I now live. It's been nice in some aspects - not having to get up in the morning at a time in which I don't function properly as a human being, not making a hundred decisions every hour, relaxing and taking time for myself, having actual free evenings and weekends, and not feeling this tremendous burden to help over one hundred teenagers become productive members of society in a few years. And that's just a few things out of an almost infinite list of hardships that teachers struggle with.
But it's also sucked. I had to watch all of my teacher friends post exciting pictures of their new classroom on social media before the school year started with no exciting new classroom of my own. I had to see more pictures around Christmas of how thankful all my teacher friends were to be teachers. And it seems like every time I get on Facebook, someone has another heartwarming post about something awesome that happened with a student or class this year. I miss it. I know it's stressful, and it's hard work - the hardest work I've ever done, really. But I miss it. I can't even unpack the boxes full of books and other cool science-y things I'd kept in my classroom previously. I quit getting on Twitter because I didn't want to know about all the cool things I could be doing in my classroom but couldn't because I have no classroom. I can't read all the education-related books that were on my reading list because I have no classroom to implement these newfound ideas in. And I haven't even displayed my brand new Master of Education degree that I worked so hard for because it feels like it's just going to waste.
Waste. That's another word that pops into my head more often lately. Not that I'm a waste as a human, not that far (although I sympathize if that's true for you. I can definitely imagine it). But I feel like I'm wasting my talents. I'm wasting a year that could have been spent doing what I love and what I'm good at. Even former students are upset when they find out I have no job this year. Get this: my teenage former students were mature enough to use the idea of me helping other students to allow them to deal with the crushing blow that I would no longer be able to directly support their education. And part of me feels like I not only let them down but let down the students that could have become former students this year.
Life is not static though, and thank goodness for that! What a boring life that would be. I'm learning to embrace the change. I'm learning to find new ways to do what I love and what I'm good at. I opened up my Twitter for the first time since school ended last year. I'm reading articles about education again. I'm starting this blog and a freelance writing career, focused primarily on education topics. I've got to get back in the game. Because it truly would be a waste to give up on it entirely.
The internet can be a beautiful place to support each other, so let's do so! What about you? What ways are you helping your future students, even if you don't have any currently? What ways are you feeling discouraged and could use a pep talk? Share your thoughts!
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