Seeking peace

I have survived! I am officially no longer a high school teacher. Although I did discover I could in fact be a great English teacher (a HUGE SHOCK TO ME!) I am not sure I was given the patients to do it. What I do want to do is devote my time and talent for teaching at the college level. I keep reading blogs and articles about how "bad" college students are and I have to wonder if this idea is simply because we have too many people in academia who are not really dedicated to the craft of teaching. I say this from observation. I know MANY people who got their PhD not because they wanted to teach, but because they wanted to research. Or worse they didn't know what else to do, so they kept going to school.

I on the other hand have ALWAYS wanted to teach. Its who I am. Teaching is not easy. You MUST be able to be flexible. You must think about how to best meet your students where they are. I agree high schools and grade schools are no longer preparing kids for college. BUT, I also know that this has very little to do with the teachers. Yes some teachers suck. The bigger issue however is the amount of bureaucracy that is getting in the way of teachers.

I love the idea of common core standards. Yet HATE the crazy level of testing those kids have to go through. They are not taught to think, they are taught to master short term memorization for a test. This does not help anyone. College professors need to see that the basics might be there, but it will be our job to teach them to think. From what I have seen, students DO want to be challenged. They DO want to apply knowledge and see how things work. Up until now they have not really had that chance to apply ideas, because schools are not encouraged to teach those skills to students. Sure application is on the CCS (common core standards) yet teachers know that this skill is not really applicable on an online multiple choice test. So they teach the test. This breaks my heart, but at the same time it ignites a passion to keep going.

One day I want to do something big. I want to be in a position where I can rupture the school system. I am not sure HOW to do it. Not even sure where to start. But that doesn't matter, I will keep looking. I will keep thinking about these issues. I will keep fighting for the job that will provide the security that I can focus more attention to this. Suddenly all my previous experience seems to make sense. The work I have done on social justice issues. The year I just finished working in a high school. The years of working with and mentoring youth. I desire to work at a university that values teaching and community. I see the path. Now I just need to be let our of this cage, and let free to DO something.