One semester done!

I just finished my first set of graduate classes at BC and it feels really weird. On the one hand, it is really relieving to be done with classes, but on the other I feel even more weight on my shoulders now. I got a lot out of my three classes, but the biggest thing I took away was the amount of work that is ahead of me. However, it is work that I am going to love doing.

While in class, first the first time ever I felt surrounded by the future leaders of the world. My classmates have so much passion and so much knowledge about education. I truly walked away inspired and at ease knowing that students all over are going to be taught by these people of such caliber. On a different note, the discussion we had during class brought to our attention many issues that the education system faces, that we will face while teaching.

Teaching is not just a 7-3 job where you walk in a classroom with some lessons planned and stand in the front talking to children. Good teachers, real teachers, make it their life's work; and trust me it is work. Inside every school is a microcosm, a miniature American society, where students are facing all the same things adults face. Racism, oppression, media, peer pressure, pain, hunger, competition, failure, success, self-discovery, relationship building, and exposure to everything that happens in the world good or bad. It is our jobs as teachers to prepare our students for real life and to teach them about the experiences they are having. I don't just teach social studies, I teach about life and the connection between the two. I need to be a role model by teaching them the right things and showing them the wrong things that are out there. So many times students are looked at as kids who are not ready for the truth, classrooms are more like a teacher's personal power trip, and schools are places that simply teach students that life is stressful. I do not want to be that teacher. I want to treat my students like equals, I want to engage with them, I want to learn from them, and I want them to connect with what they learn by doing not just reading.

Our society may or may not be in big trouble. Natural resources are being depleted, debt is ever-increasing, crime has not gone away, people are still starving, and worst of all people are still taking advantage of others and treating certain groups like shit. Our students need to face these issues. I want to teach my students to criticize all these things that go on around them, think critically about everything they hear and see, and go out and do something about it.