During preservice a few years ago, I ran into a group of new teachers at lunch. We had a brief conversation about where we worked. When they heard where I taught, a PRTF (Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility), one of the teachers said, “Good for you. I couldn’t work with THOSE kids.” I said, “You do realize when THOSE kids leave […]
Every single day since March 18th I have thought about them. Every single day. I wonder how they’re coping. If they’re coping. I wonder how things are at home. I wonder if they are even going home. If they still have a home. I wonder if anyone has told them they will be okay. If anyone has even talked to […]
On Friday, I wasn’t a hero or an inspiration or the teacher changing lives and making a difference. I didn’t do my best. I didn’t walk the words I talk. I didn’t meet my own expectations. I let the emotions take control. I let outside factors and problems into my classroom. Bottom line. I wasn’t a very good teacher. They […]
They are getting ready to walk through your door for the first time. They are waiting to see how you will greet them. They are going to judge if they will like you. Will you like them? They are feeling excitement and curiosity and anxiety and maybe a little fear. A new school year is a big chapter. It’s a […]
The hardest part for me was that you didn’t realize I was one of THOSE KIDS. You saw me as a good student who was capable of making good grades and following the rules and I was those things. You saw me as someone who could get along with others and who could communicate effectively with both my peers and […]
As Mental Health Awareness month comes to an end and there has been so much talk about what is being done and what isn’t being done and why shouldn’t more be done, I wanted to figure out exactly what I wanted to say. First, I thought about do I think more could be done? Yes. Do I think more should […]
I’ve been through a lot. That’s not an excuse. It’s a fact. I don’t want to share what happened to me and I actually really don’t like when people think they have a right to know. You don’t. It’s my story and I’m not ready to share it. I may never be ready. But what I need you to understand […]
That one interaction changed the way I teach. It changed everything. The student wasn’t a good student and most of the time was difficult to even like. He was one of THOSE KIDS. He had been suspended and expelled and recently kicked out of an alternative school. He had been arrested and incarcerated. He had a reputation that proceeded him. His peers feared him and his […]
I’m not going to talk about the gay kid anymore. Or the bisexual kid. Or the transgender kid. Labels. How come the labels always get to me before the student? I teach in a psychiatric hospital and the labels travel fast. I know when I was in a general education building the labels flew across the building. A student comes […]
Dear Student, I found a letter you wrote over 15 years ago to me at the end of your 8th grade year. You were thanking me for helping you and all I did for you. Reading that letter brought tears to my eyes, but not for the reasons you probably think. I felt so bad. I was not the teacher […]
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