There's a
popular new genre of teacher-created video with the bottom-line message,
"I've had enough. I
quit!" Well, to buck the trend, I'd
like to explain why I'm staying.
1. I live to teach to someone else's test with goodness knows what on it!
2. When I'm over-evaluated and micro-managed, it
makes me feel special.
3. I love swimming in a sea of polluted data and
I can hardly wait to find out if the infallible evaluation metrics mean I drown.
4. If I
retire now and my pension fund becomes insolvent, I'd be up the creek with no
paddle. Better work to the point of rigor mortis.
5. I love getting
my hands dirty and digging for artifacts Danielson-style.
6. If I quit now, I might have to be judged for who I am instead of for my students' test scores. Frightening!
7. I'd sure miss the routines of prepping for
and administering a myriad of standardized tests and assessments. They add meaning to my life.
8. I'd miss those snapshot observations 'cause where else do people burst into rooms
unannounced and create sometimes awkward situations--except for in sitcoms?
9. If I quit, I might be replaced by a robot. And he might actually be less monotonous than
me!
10. Since my teaching life is scripted, and I teach only from a script, I'll have to wait until I get to the line that reads "I quit."
In truth, I
love to teach. It's a calling. I like working with people and helping them
to think and question. There's a good
fight here and a cause worth defending.
The future of public education is the future of our democracy. They will rise or sink together. I need to live up to my ideals and the values
of those I praise in history. I owe as
much to my own children, to my students, to my profession, to my country, to form my own opinions and to speak without fear, just as I would have my students
do.
