| With classes just two weeks away, teachers across Florida are focusing their attention on the academic year ahead. For many, that means spending time in seminars and training sessions designed to give them insights on new strategies, materials and rules they can (or in some cases must) use with their students. Pasco County's four-day "Together We Learn" professional learning event featured topics such as discipline, grading practices, the reading/writing connection and civics standards. Nestled between them was one 90-minute breakout focusing on a single existential question that more and more teachers are asking themselves: Why Does It All Matter? |
| [Pasco County school district | Zoom recording] |
| Teachers reminded to 'remember the why' as they face challenges |
| With their profession increasingly under fire, teachers lately have expressed exasperation with their jobs. Many have quit. Many more have spoken angrily about what's being required of them.
A large portion have kept their heads down amid the rising pressures that come from paperwork, parents, principals and other forces. They want to keep their paychecks coming, meager as the pay might seem, and stay out of the line of fire. They have frustrations too. Those shouldn't be ignored, Pasco eSchool teacher Desiré Mosser stressed during a session she led on "the why" for a group educators seeking some inspiration before the first bell rings. "We all have those nope, not today days," Mosser said. "That is OK." It's important for teachers to strike a manageable life-work balance, Mosser said, reminding the group that their mental health is just as critical as their students' to a successful school year. "We're not talking about, 'One day a week I get exercise and the rest of the week I'm at work until 9 p.m.,'" she said. "That's not balance." Teachers also should build connections with colleagues, she added, so they can support one another in good times and bad. After all, Mosser noted, teachers may spend more time with coworkers than they do with family members. If they don't know one another, they can't understand the intricacies of their lives and help when help is needed.
And that's really the point, not just for the educator in the room next door but also for the dozens of students in teachers' own classrooms, Mosser said. Kids have things going on in their lives that you can't know just by looking at them. You need to get to know them — including the toughest among them — too. Not every student has engaged parents advocating for them. In some cases, it's very much the opposite. For many, teachers and school might provide the most stable part of their day, with consistent rules and expectations, positive daily interactions and individual attention. "Your days are going to be challenging. You are going to want to throw in the towel sometimes," Mosser said. "Remember the why that got you into this profession. You have an ability to make an impact in students' lives every single day." |
