As I approach the end of my first year teaching abroad in the UAE, I cannot help but become retrospective. I look at the calendar and know that May is just around the corner and I shake my head, because my brain cannot believe it to be true. It has been a trip, but what is on my mind the most right now is the end of the year teacheritis and studentitis. Taking creative licensee and borrowing from the well known concept of senioritis, I have "coined" two new concepts.
The truth is out fellow teachers. I am spilling the beans. The students are not the only ones who desperately want it to be summer vacation. We have struggled to get our students to turn in work on time, excel on standardized tests, and fit every last ounce of information possible in their heads. While that might not seem like much to some people, it is a lot of work and the long stretch after Spring Break until summer is tiring on us all. However, being the stellar professionals that we are we push through and prepare our students for state standards, end of year tests, and even middle school, high school, or college. The crazy part is that even when our body and brain is telling us, enough is enough, our heart is still in teaching. It is the hardest and most rewarding time. The end is where we see the students excel. They finally understand the parts of speech, they can give a presentation while making good eye contact, and they know how summarize research in their own words, and the finally admit that you were right (sometimes). The truth though is that teachers are human. Yes, we are a special breed built with compassion, drive, intelligence, etc. but those things aside, we are like everyone else. We want to get out and enjoy the nice weather. We want to sleep in for more than two days in a row. We want to stop multi-tasking with dinner, grading papers, planning, and our favorite primetime show. We want to finish a novel instead of reading a few pages of a chapter each night before we fall asleep with the book on our chest. Is that really too much to ask?
The hardest part of teaching is not the job itself. Managing students, coming up with brilliant and engaging lesson plans, and balancing all the duties we are assigned, is the easy part. Somewhere deep down we love the pressure, otherwise we wouldn't be teachers. Pretending we don't care that it is a beautiful day for the beach, or that we only got two hours of sleep the night before, takes skill. At the end of the year, that skill is put to the test as the upcoming summer draws near.
I am glad that got to go through this experience and I know that next year will likely be a whole new set of challenges and adventures, but I cannot deny that right now I'm ready for it all to be done. So much has happened and changed and I have learned a lot, but enough is enough bring on summer vacation!
The truth is out fellow teachers. I am spilling the beans. The students are not the only ones who desperately want it to be summer vacation. We have struggled to get our students to turn in work on time, excel on standardized tests, and fit every last ounce of information possible in their heads. While that might not seem like much to some people, it is a lot of work and the long stretch after Spring Break until summer is tiring on us all. However, being the stellar professionals that we are we push through and prepare our students for state standards, end of year tests, and even middle school, high school, or college. The crazy part is that even when our body and brain is telling us, enough is enough, our heart is still in teaching. It is the hardest and most rewarding time. The end is where we see the students excel. They finally understand the parts of speech, they can give a presentation while making good eye contact, and they know how summarize research in their own words, and the finally admit that you were right (sometimes). The truth though is that teachers are human. Yes, we are a special breed built with compassion, drive, intelligence, etc. but those things aside, we are like everyone else. We want to get out and enjoy the nice weather. We want to sleep in for more than two days in a row. We want to stop multi-tasking with dinner, grading papers, planning, and our favorite primetime show. We want to finish a novel instead of reading a few pages of a chapter each night before we fall asleep with the book on our chest. Is that really too much to ask?
The hardest part of teaching is not the job itself. Managing students, coming up with brilliant and engaging lesson plans, and balancing all the duties we are assigned, is the easy part. Somewhere deep down we love the pressure, otherwise we wouldn't be teachers. Pretending we don't care that it is a beautiful day for the beach, or that we only got two hours of sleep the night before, takes skill. At the end of the year, that skill is put to the test as the upcoming summer draws near.
I am glad that got to go through this experience and I know that next year will likely be a whole new set of challenges and adventures, but I cannot deny that right now I'm ready for it all to be done. So much has happened and changed and I have learned a lot, but enough is enough bring on summer vacation!
Thank you for saying it so well!
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