Cup Status: Empty
I am a teacher and I am tired. Yes, the early mornings make me more tired than I was in the summer. Yes, fielding student questions and meeting individual needs all while staying on pace and keeping a smile on my face takes lots and lots of energy. Yes, grading pile after pile of paper and digital assignments takes lots of energy. Yes, even making matching outfits that are ironed and presentable takes a ridiculous amount of energy. The energy needed takes different forms: mental, emotional, physical, but I always manage to have enough for my students, my coworkers, my tasks, and sometimes myself.
What I don’t have enough energy for are the attitudes in society that are aimed at teachers. It is exhausting reading headlines that say “Teacher Fired for Posting…” and “First Amendment Rights and Teachers…” and social media comments that say, “Teachers deserve to be fired if they say…” and “Teachers are supposed to be role models and shouldn’t…” and “Parents stalk their kids’ teachers online and can see…”. And the focus on teachers activities outside of the classroom, “Teacher seen drinking at…” and “Teacher seen Partially Clothed…” (when it was a bathing suit photo on the beach) and so many, many others. I am just so tired of seeing these headlines and comments and posts that focus on what teachers should and shouldn’t do. Who teachers should and shouldn’t be. It is so frustrating.
Teaching is a profession. It is a career. It is a job. It is not a lifestyle. It is not who a person is. It is not where a person begins and ends. Yes, as a teacher, I love my career, at least most days. What I don’t love is society telling me what I can and can’t do and what I can and can’t say just because of my profession. And, recently, society has really been pushing what it believes teachers should and should not believe as well. But, I just can’t buy into this. Teachers are people with the same rights as others. If what they say and do outside of the classroom does not impact their ability to teach inside the classroom, then, as long as the actions and words are not illegal, it should not matter. Society needs to stop holding teachers to a higher standard than they do other people. Let’s just let people live and be who they are. We do not all have to agree. We can have different ideals and beliefs and religious preferences and political views and it is ok. That is what makes us individuals. We can chose to accept others the way they are and leave them alone because they aren’t who or what we want them to be. We can accept that people are one version of themselves (the professional version, perhaps) at work and another version of themselves (the personal version, perhaps) outside of work. And the beautiful thing is, that is ok.
Teachers are not the fix-all for society and we are not the downfall either, but constantly standing up for my profession takes energy and it is exhausting. So, I am tired. Tired of being a teacher who is also a person who is worried about her future. Tired that, if I say or post the “wrong thing” or what someone perceives as the “wrong thing” that I can lose my job. So, right now, my cup is pretty empty and I am needing a little hope that society will change its attitudes towards teachers so that I can rest a little easier.
The Cup 
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