The Loca Lady Language Teacher: The Lack of Sanity in Teaching

When I tell folks I'm a teacher, they give me this look that says "Oh, how dorkingly adorable!" I see their train of thought now: I was such a goody two shoes and bookworm that I just haaad to come back and force young pups into this lifestyle. When they ask me what I teach and I explain I'm a second language teacher, that I teach English for Speakers of Other Languages to adult learners and Spanish to elementary and middle school students, the "you're an adorable ginger dork" look fades into "You are a loca lady" look. All foreign language teachers, you see, are loco.

 

I question my sanity of why in the MUNDO (heh Spanish teacher joke heh) I choose teaching. Oh it's got its negatives, youuuuu bet. Like, I have no life. I wake up early to grade papers, I use my free time to write lessons, and I stay up each late making sure my 180 students ages 3-50 get a quality education. When I'm not doing those things, I whine to Andy about classroom management issues. Or I'm looking at my bank account while adding up the hours I spent each week working on creating curriculum and wonder why the two don't match up.....

I always teach my students not to focus on negativity, but on positivity. Well, it's time to follow my own example, and a new thought enters my mind as I sip decaf Vanilla Chai tea and snuggle up for an overdue Parks and Recreation Netflix marathon. I see the images of my students, of all that has happened in the past 14 hours, and I think "In what other career would all of these things happen-

1. Ten kindergartners tackle me in a giant hug at once, with them telling me they love me
2. A first grader and a third grader insist I write them more Spanish words to teach their families
3. My seventh graders passionately and intellectually defend immigrant rights and beg for more conversational Spanish days where we sit in a circle for an hour and speak only Spanish
4. I teach immigrants life skills that Americans take for granted, like asking for directions when you're lost, saying your address or writing a check
5. Teaching students how to read

I'm not going to change anyone's life overnight. I won't see any drastic changes. But what I do is I take delight in the small successes and knowing that I'm planting the seeds of knowledge, and thus freedom, when I teach.