I’ve Got To Get Something Off My Chest
I am FED UP with teachers saying “I am NOT gonna deal with so-and-so next year. Don’t put them in MY class.”
Listen up colleagues. There’s one thing in knowing your triggers/weaknesses/personality traits that just don’t jive with your own, but it’s another to make that statement because the aforementioned kid has a reputation or you’ve seen them in the office or whatever. THEY HAVE TO GO SOMEWHERE AND IT’S YOUR F-ING JOB TO TEACH THEM!!!
THIS IS WHAT YOU SIGNED UP FOR! Seriously though. I’ve heard it more times than I can count over the course of the last few days. Some of this might be because I’m a kindergarten teacher and I don’t have/get the luxury of knowing anything about my kids before they step foot into my classroom-but the other part about that is I have to have a completely open mind EVERY. SINGLE. AUGUST. (No-my district doesn’t do a gradual start or a Kindergarten round-up)
I appreciate that this is both a blessing and a curse but COME ON. You agreed to be a teacher to ALL students when you took a job at this school. If you don’t like the student population/demographic/socioeconomic audience that the school serves THEN MOVE THE HELL ON.
I don’t mean to get on a soapbox and TRUST ME, I know how exhausting students with behavioral issues can be, but seriously, who do you think you are to attempt to dictate who is in your classroom and who isn’t?
I legitimately heard a teacher say today that if a 1st grader (who is on the spectrum, might I add) got put in her 2nd grade classroom, she would quit. Like, who the hell do you think you are? If that’s your line in the sand, then you just might as well step over it and into another school.
And maybe I hold this opinion because I truly believe that the children placed in my class are given to me by God because they are who I need in my life and they need me in theirs. I tell myself this and remind myself of this almost constantly and when I find that mindset I instantly feel calmer and seem to have more clarity.
I just don’t understand who these teachers think they are and it honestly sickens me to know that I work with people that make those kinds of statements.
