Saturday, November 4, 2017

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

     If you are an ATR, I offer my condolences. We are being moved on Monday. For some of us this is a relief, for others a potential nightmare. I've been covering  full schedules every day since September. It hasn't been easy, as most of the school is made up of middle school students. My license is 9 - 12 and this school is 6 - 12. When sixth through eighth graders see a "sub", it can be like someone just announced everyone in the room has won a million dollars. They are apt to jump on top of their desks and scream at the top of their lungs - all 30 of them. Then you have to calm them down for 90 minutes straight. All their classes are 90 minutes. Yesterday was rough - I had self contained seventh graders all day and the teacher left no work. I did my best and tricked the kids into learning. I think their regular teacher is feeling the pressure. All the teachers here are between 24 and 27 years old - more than half have no experience. Most of them will become good teachers if mentored and given the opportunity. I was in this school a couple of years ago and only ten out of sixty teachers are still there. The real kicker is this is one of the best schools I've been in. The principal and the administration care about kids. I've built relationships with the kids and staff. Now, I'm being rotated to start all over. Monday morning, I will be inspected by everyone to see if I am the ATR stereotype. You know - a lemon, drunk, nut case, freed criminal or lazy bastard. Oh well, eventually I'll be able to retire. The thing is I loved teaching. Good luck on Monday.

1 comment:

  1. The million dollar comment was hilarious! So true, and yet so sad. The worst part (and there are so many negatives despite being told otherwise) is the emotional torture of being a highly qualified teacher and not being allowed to prove it.

    ReplyDelete

I reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments.

Disclaimer:
Stories herein containing unnamed or invented characters are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.