If you ask me at this precise moment, I would tell you that I am in one of the most exciting fields (if not THE most exciting) field of work that exists. No, I am not a professional athlete, though I have thought on occasion of what kind of life that would be. Far from what you may be thinking, I am educator, and more specifically, I am a 2nd grade teacher. Before you think me a comedian, let me make clear that I am dead serious about the excitement that I see in my line of work.
I am daily shaping the minds, perspectives and abilities of my students. Each day, week and month that my students grow in the classroom, so do their opportunities later on in school and beyond. Their future is what I hold in my hands. Unlike so many other jobs, for me and my students, there is no safety net. If I fail in ensuring that my students learn everything that they need to know for the academic year, they are beginning their next year behind. While some are talented and dedicated enough to make up for this disadvantage, it is unfair to expect, and many cannot make up it.
"I write to stay sane" because it can be overwhelming to think that I am responsible for 16-20 (the number varies depending on the day/week/month) other lives. But I also "write to stay sane" because as daunting as it is to think that I am responsible for these lives, it is even more so to realize that for many of my students, every inch that they grow in the classroom they are losing when they are away. The specifics of that growth and loss are not important at this time, though I imagine they will become relevant at a later point. The important takeaway is that very much unlike my idealized vision of elementary education (rooted primary in my own elementary education experience, which I imagine I will be addressing at a later point), I am battling for the attention and focus of my students on a daily basis. I joke with my aunt that it sometimes actually feels like a battlefield as I am fighting for the "hearts and minds" of my students in order ensure that they are getting what they need from the educational experience of my class. The joke ends when I realize that for many of those students, in those individual battles, I am losing.
(Here's a tidbit: In many parts of the country, estimation for the number of prisons and cells are based on the number of students that are reading below grade level in the 3rd grade. Chew on that for a minute (I will definitely be getting back to that at a later point). )
Primary education was never a focus of study for me through high school or college, but somewhere between my senior year of college and this moment I have recognized it as my calling. No, I don't think that I am built for a lifetime in the classroom, but I do believe that primary education is something to which I am enthusiastically prepared to commit my life's work. Well, before I overcommit, let me put it this way; at this moment it would be very difficult to envision the rest of my life without a commitment to primary education as one of the major pillars.
When I think about primary education, I cannot help but think of the old proverb, "A Stitch in Time Saves Nine." I'll be the first to say that it is a proverb that dehumanizes what I believe education is about, but I cannot help but acknowledge its truth. If dedication and resources are focused on education at its primary and most basic level, the system has the greatest chance to succeed. Instead of spending so much time and effort trying to figure out how to deal with the myriad of problems that appear irreconcilable on the secondary and tertiary levels of education, why wouldn't we deal with these problems before they become so complex?
I am thoughtful enough to recognize and acknowledge several counter-arguments to this last point, rooted in external societal factors that impact the adolescent as they grow up and pass through the educational system.
That said, I can't help but think of that proverb every time I am asked why I am doing what I am doing.
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