Its hard some days not feeling like a fraud in front of my students. Sure, kids, work hard, get good grades, do the right thing, go to college, that's the way to make it in life. Even better, do something that's good for humanity, do what you're good at, do what inspires you. Share your talents with the world. Yeah, go on. End up with thousands of dollars of college loan debt, end up with crappy job markets, end up with choosing between crappy wages and selling your soul and your dreams to a heartless corporation, only to be passed up for promotions or managed by the children of the wealthy who have never faced adversity in their life.. maybe 1% of you have a chance out there in this world, but the rest of you (the 99%?) are gonna be chewed up and spit out by this crooked country and crooked economy. I'd like to keep the spirit of my generation alive, the "never sell out" attitude alive, but hey, we're adults now, and we've found out that the world out there is cruel. Very cruel. I've seen so many friends sell out their dreams and hopes.. or cling on to dying dreams like gollum chasing the elusive ring... getting older, more bitter, more desperate...

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I am a teacher. I am part of the 99%

As I fell asleep last night, I started to write this in my head. It was too long for a facebook status, and since my husband started a blog not too long ago, I decided I wanted to follow suit.

Elections are coming up in just a couple weeks and there's lots of issues to decide. Locally, I will be voting YES to ban traffic cameras and NO to rezone the former Oakwood country club to allow retail. Its not that I don't admire the alleged plans to build green buildings and preserve some public space; its that I just used the word alleged. I don't buy any of it, I don't trust the developer. Not one bit. I also moved from Mayfield to S. Euclid so that I could avoid Walmart. Now they want to build one walking distance from me. I haven't been inside a Walmart since January 2002.

I could rant all day about Issue 96, but I'm really here to talk about Issue 2.

If passed, what was originally known as SB 5 would outlaw collective bargaining for teachers,police, firemen, etc. and prevent/penalize workers for striking. Paging the 1800s, could you please come and take your ideas back? There's a lot I do not admire about American history, but the rise of unions in our country is not one those things. The ability of Americans, paid pitiful wages, working long days in unsafe conditions, to stand up and say ENOUGH - I will not be treated as inferior by the owners and industrialists anymore is something that fills me with inspiration and pride. Labor unions, strikes, collective bargaining gave us a minimum wage. Ended child labor. Ensured safe working conditions, safe food, and a better standard of living. Why do so many people want to take that away? They are fools to think that the need for a labor movement has ended in our country. Laws that have been passed can be repealed. LAWS THAT HAVE BEEN PASSED CAN BE REPEALED. Unions were once illegal. Let's not go back to that time.

It amazes me that the main targets of this are those who do so much for society - public workers, public "servants". We are here to serve you. Police officers save lives. Firefighters save lives. City employees help improve your quality of living. Teachers.. well that's what I'd like to speak more about.

Anyone who pays attention to the US today should be familiar with the Occupy Wall Street movement and the similar Occupy movements that have spread across our country. Its the critics of this movement who really amaze me. Tie this to the ideas behind Herman Cain's 9-9-9 program...

I look at their words, their criticisms, their attacks of the OWS protesters and others, and do you know what I see? 19th century mentality. These people might call themselves conservatives, but they are not conservatives, they are reactionaries. Many of them seem to espouse a modern version of what has come to be known as Social Darwinism. Mainly, that the strong survive and the weak perish. That the rich are that way because they worked for all that they have; and that the poor are that way because they are lazy or inferior. So let the poorer Americans suffer. Let them starve. If you're unemployed because your company went under, then its your fault you didn't find another job in time. You should have known things weren't doing well. Its as if these people are in some weird alterna-universe where good jobs are plentiful and easy to come by. They aren't. And a lot of people I know are working jobs that they are unhappy with, making less than they deserve, not because they aren't capable of doing more, or aren't trying to find something better - its that the other better jobs are not available. So they stay working, they don't quit and try to get unemployment, they stay WORKING. Yet somehow its their fault that they are not one of the 1%.

And, as a teacher, its my fault if I am not one of the 1%. A lot of the OWS critics again seem to live in this fantasy world where everyone can become a rich ceo just by trying a little harder. Please, explain to me how I can become a millionaire on my salary. I take home about $20K a year (after taxes, health insurance, strs). If I never spent a dime, I would have to work 50 years to reach a million dollars. Explain to me again why its my fault I am not rich?

Oh, its because I became a teacher. Oh, silly me to want to take on a job that does a service in the community. That helps others. That puts the needs of others ahead of my own needs.

Two things often amaze me when it comes to the teaching profession and outsiders:

1) How many people act as if teaching is an easy job that anyone can do

2) How many people act as if teachers deserve a low salary and no benefits (the same ones who want to take away their collective bargaining/striking rights)

Teaching is NOT just something anyone can do. And it is certainly not easy. In teaching, we have to know and understand that everyone has different abilities and multiple "intelligences". Teaching is a job that requires most if not all of these intellgences:

a. Teachers must have good and effective oral and written communication skills

b. Teachers have to have mathematical and analytical skills - to do grades, figure out percentages, analyze testing graphs and plan effectively

c. Teachers have to have organizational skills; especially the more they have to teach - each lesson ties into a larger unit, which ties into a larger curriculum, both at school level and state level. Students will be tested on what we teach, we have to plan effectively to make sure all skills and objectives are met.

d. Teachers have to have interpersonal skills; to interact with a multitude of personalities, backgrounds, moods, behaviors, with adults (parents), with children (students). I interact with about 140 different teenagers every day. I need to know about each of them as individuals. This includes known how each and everyone of them learn best and making accommodations when needed.

e. Teachers have to have intrapersonal skills; to be able to reflect on lessons in order to grow, to assess ourselves constantly to make sure we are doing our best

f. Teachers have to have spatial skills - to plan and organize classroom space, including desk placement based on activity, bulletin boards, etc.

g. Teachers have to have kinesthetic skills; if you doubt me on this, come to my 1st period sometime when all 27 students are there, and try moving up and down the aisles considering the gigantic size of their bookbags. In heels, without falling over.

h. Teachers have to have critical thinking skills - not just to plan lessons, but to grade and assess our students. We have to have the same type of skills that we expect our students to learn, or else we cannot teach them effectively.

i. Teachers have to be kind, compassionate, and empathetic.

j. Teachers also have to be stern, assertive, and demanding.

It amazes me when people say that they could leave their jobs and just become a teacher like all it takes is some magic fairy dust and boom, you have all of these skills.

Speaking of multiple intelligences, being a teacher, perhaps I see the world differently when it comes to fair wages for jobs or paying taxes. I do not expect all my students to learn at the same rate. They will not all benefit from the exact same lesson every day. Different students learn at different rates, under different settings and different conditions. They all have different aptitude levels. Thus, some students are on IEPs to help fill in the gaps so they don't slip through the cracks a "normal classroom" setup might have. Some students excel and take AP or honors classes. I don't know any teacher who would say, "Hey, let's teach every child the same thing and expect them to all learn the same way at the same rate." So why do we expect the same out of people in society? Not everyone can be a millionaire, just like not all of my students will get 30+ on their ACTs or get into an Ivy League college. So why are their politicians out there who say that a flat tax is a fair tax? Just as I might ask more from my AP students as far as ability to read and analyze text, doesn't it make sense to ask those that have more to pay more in taxes?

Time to go mow the lawn...

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