Brian’s TRT Blog

I had planned on the last post being my last for the holidays, but alas, it wasn’t.

I’ve noticed that the stress level of teachers recently has been rocketing to levels that I’ve never witnessed before. It must be due to a myriad of reasons–too long for here–but one common reason seems to be testing anxieties. Smiles, zeal, and passion seem to be changing to tension, stress, and anxiety. The once-heard, “I’ve got a great idea for a unit/lesson/theme/bulletin board” is now “I wonder how we can fit this in to testing review?” and so on. Are classrooms across the nation changing into the making of widgets?

A worrisome observation. I often wonder how I can encourage teachers who are overwhelmed and how to help them. I’ve tried contests on the blog for free lunch duty. I’ve posted scavenger hunts in the xerox room with the winner getting a free lunch duty. I’ve suggested morning Starbucks Sessions and having a mini-workshop on things non-tested. My colleagues even came in with an Espresso machine and free food. In spite of these, there can still be that deer-in-the-headlights look. When I suggest ideas, one of the common responses is, “I’m overwhelmed and too busy to fill-in-the-blank!!!!” It’s not that it’s ME, but the overwhelming stress and pressure. Oh, what can a TRT do to befriend a teacher?

As I was cleaning my filing cabinets in my cubicle this morning (all classes were in the cafeteria for a Christmas program), I came across a file of quotes I had collected for introductions for my speech writing. I took some time to read all of them, remembering why I had chosen them: they reminded me why teaching is the most honorable of professions. Yes, the pressure is out in the stratosphere, but you have a vital and important job. You are needed and appreciated. So, my friends, please take some time to read these and remember why you became an educator in the first place:

=>At a conference on education, a vote-conscious state senator boomed from the speaker’s platform, “Long live our teachers!” From the back of the hall came the query, “On what?” (Bennett Cerf)
=>If you study to remember, you will forget, but if you study to understand, you will remember (Anonymous)
=>A college degree and a teaching certificate define a person as a teacher, but it takes hard work and dedication to be one. (Paul McClure)
=>The pupil who is never required to do what he cannot do, never does what he can do. (John Stuart Mill)
=>The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without his teacher. (Elbert Hubbard)
=>Theories and goals of education don’t matter a whit if you don’t consider your students to be human beings. (Lou Ann Walker)
=>Great teachers empathize with kids, respect them, and believe that each one has something special that can be built upon. (Ann Lieberman)
=>A good teacher, like a good entertainer, first must hold his audience’s attention. Then he can teach his lesson. (Hendrik John Clarke)
=>Speak when you’re angry, and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret. (Laurence J. Peter)
=>What we learn with pleasure we never forget. (Louis Mercier)
=>I love these little people; and it is not a slight thing, when they, who are so fresh from God, love us. (Charles Dickens)
=>One good teacher in a lifetime may sometimes change a delinquent into a solid citizen. (Phillip Wylie)
=>There are two kinds of teachers: The kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can’t move, and the kind that just give you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies. (Robert Frost)
=>I had a professor who started every class with, “So what are you excited about?” (James Hallmark)
=>Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence. (Robert Frost)
=>I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. (Albert Schweitzer)
=>Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. (From The Lorax by Dr. Seuss)
=>The best index to a person’s character is how a person treats people who can’t do them any good or can’t fight back. (Abigail Van Buren)
…and finally…
=>Let the radiance of my enthusiasms envelop the poor courtyard and the bare classroom. Let my heart be a stronger column and my goodwill purer gold than the columns and gold of rich schools. (Gabriela Mistral)

I wish you the merriest of Christmases and time to rest. Blessings to all,
Brian