#teacher things

I teach at primary school. One day, I showed my first graders Hatsune Miku, after one of my extracurriculars. One girl drew a character who looked like her and I told them this. They loved Miku and sang PoPiPo for the rest of the day.

I teach arts and I try to be good at this job. I be teaching them important stuff, colours, overall motor skills, famous painters. They won’t remember 3/4 things I teach them.

But they remembered Hatsune Miku, of whom I spoke once. And today I had to draw and then make 30 copies of that drawing, for them to colour her. They wanted Hatsune Miku bad.

My partner, trying his best but not used to using nonbinary pronouns: Hey, I'm on my way home. Have you dropped off the...thems...yet?

Me: I have not dropped off the thems yet, no. We're on our way, though.

me: i really don’t wanna hear that friend

7th grader: oh shoot i’m sorry ms d that’s my ba—wait…why don’t you wanna hear it?

me, sighing: i have brothers who say it way too much i’m chicken jockey’d out babe

7th grader: oooooh wait like are we talking a 24 year old or a 4 year old

me: nah they’re eleven and thirteen

7th grader, aka a 13yo: broooo that’s the worsttt. i’m so sorry ms D that age is just so bad and and and horrible. 13 is just so not fun at allllll

me: oh really? so i should just stay real far away huh

I made it!

I don’t know how. This year was the 7, 265 school days long, but I did it!

I’m so so fed up. Losing my mind over this. The far right lovesss to preach about “free speech”, meanwhile they’re the biggest proponents of censorship especially in academia. Suddenly we can’t talk about the specific needs of our culturally diverse students, because that’s “wokeism”?!? Fuck off. I’m so pissed about this.

My professor, who’s been teaching this class for YEARS, is thinking about quitting because he’s so upset at the new legislation. He has a doctorate in teaching English to speakers of other languages, and theyre suddenly saying that the entire practice of inclusive teaching needs to be restructured, undoing years of work to get to this point. Unbelievable.

Had my second lesson today and yeah, it wasn’t our best. But the kids participated, they had fun, and they actually understood the overall goal of the unit!

And honestly? That should count for something.

But the teacher was impossible today. Making uncalled-for comments, talking us down, talking the kids down. Just an unpleasant experience all around

And the thing is... we’re students!

We’re not even properly learning how to teach yet. We have no idea what we’re doing. We’re literally just trying things out. Last time it worked great, this time it didn’t... That’s how learning works, right?

So yeah, I’m feeling pretty demotivated right now. I hate everything. I feel like a disappointment. And I still have uni afterward, so picture me just sitting through lectures and wallowing in self-pity...

But then again... who fucking cares

I’m learning to become a teacher. That’s the whole point. But the actual teacher training comes after university

Right now, university is giving us a lot of theory. We’re becoming experts in our subjects, learning educational concepts, and how to do empirical research

But standing in front of a class, planning lessons, reacting in the moment, figuring out what works and what doesn’t? That’s something you learn through practice, experience, and actual teacher training

I don’t even have my Bachelor’s degree yet. After that I still have to do my Master’s, and then I start teacher training