I have been inspired to begin this blog in order to reach out to other educators who guzzle coffee, keep all hours planning, and sacrifice time to be a relevant presence in the classroom. Maybe this can be a place for lesson ideas-failures and successes. Of course, there will be discussions of kids vomiting on us and random lice checks.  I find that without the humor of the job, it can be quite a dark place that I often compare to Dante’s Inferno. I just wonder which level he would put us? I spent 4 years studying Italian; one of which was in Inferno. So, many of my DANTE references are part of my literary DNA. There may also be some Shakespearian analogies. It would be impossible to blog about education without these inspirations.

I have been in education for 10 years. Maybe this is the catalyst for my interest in blogging. I also feel that my middle-aged status puts me in a place where I feel what I say and feel has more validity than it did ten years ago. This is not to say that I do not second guess each and every move I make in front of all of those little faces. I’m just not sure that the “non-educator” has any clue what we do every day. If you think about it, education is one area in which most people North America have experience. Either they attended school, have children in school, or are part of the misunderstood world of education.

The title of the blog came to me during the days where I wish I were a mere few words or numbers sporadically scrawled on a dry-erase board. These characters are easily erased and re-written. As a teacher, we are continually erasing what we do and “re-writing” the plan. Some days, I wish that I could seek refuge under my desk with the lights out. I haven’t done this, yet. The funny thing is that I think most of my friends in the school would know where I am trapped.  The search and rescue team would find me clasping a mug of coffee in one hand and my new progressive glasses clutched in the other. I would be buried under an avalanche of colorful pens, sticky notes, and rubrics. I would surely be muttering something about my lesson plans not being color coded and the fact that I didn’t get lunch count in on time.

The thing is that with most passionate teachers, we LOVE what we do. The fascination of how those minds work mixed with the onus of being responsible for reaching each child can be enough to keep us up at night. When a lesson goes bad, it is like a stale comedian drowning. We need to know when to stop and quit beating the rotting horse. The comatose stares are usually a clue that a new plan is in order. We need to know when to re-group and lose all of our pride. I assure you that as soon as we feel that we have done a good job, something will smack us back to reality.

I have been very lucky to have had amazing parents and administrators who have been part of the community necessary to “raise a class” each year. I have had powerful mentors and other teacher friends who took me under their wings.

This blog is not meant to be a complaint forum or a place where we discuss specific children, since we must honor confidentiality. If you are a teacher, what are your hopes, dreams, or concerns? Are you planning on a big project? What gets you out of bed on a cold, Monday morning to go to work?

K