Last week I closed out the school year a little differently, with a heavier heart. This was my last year teaching in this state, and I’m happy to have ended it with middle schoolers.  They are hilarious. They’ve helped me love and remember my inner teen.  I love a questioning, sarcastic individual.  And middle schools have ‘em in spades. 

As you may be used to hearing by now, my exit is due to the unsustainable exhaustion that teaching can have on people, especially when you have kids. It was a painful choice. I don’t know how teachers with kids do this for so long and they deserve the utmost respect.  Please remember this.  Or sub for a few days and see a snapshot for yourselves.  Maybe more people will see what those of us leaving do.  We are in a critical moment in education. The state of it affects each of us, whether you have children or not.  

I have put a lot into this career, and I hold so much love for the schools I’ve been a part of.  At this point, by and large the system must undeniably be aware that too often, it allows the exploitation of our time, our energy, and our care; simultaneously not deferring to us as professional experts.  It’s like any other systemic issue in that way, with meaningful change hovering in the background as a theory, or occurring incredibly slowly.  

We have bigger issues to solve than their test scores. This excessive pouring over scores. The kids are human.  The all-too-often unreliable, irrelevant numbers on a sheet do not come close to reflecting the most key information; There are more personal needs to focus on.  There are things a school cannot fix.  There are things that need to start in the home. Respect starts at home. An appreciation for learning starts at home.  There are people in those homes who need help, who are doing their best, who are in survival mode.  This is a society problem.  

I don’t have all the answers. I just care that people talk about it, write about it, get creative in trying to address the issues, together. Learning should be an experience that doesn’t turn so many off to it.

Now here comes the hope. I hope we vote for leaders who are concerned about the state of education.  I hope teachers, parents and students figure it out together as humans, with human needs. I hope systems that are getting in the way with their methods step back.

And what of the kids?  I’ve learned this: the kids just want adults to see them, they want adults to care.  And they’d be more invested in school if it continued to evolve with them in mind.

I will miss them.  I will miss my coworkers who get it and who are there for all the beautiful reasons.  

A bittersweet goodbye ✌🏻