So a little history on my love for teaching: literally, I’ve been teaching all my life. I’m only 23 years old, but I already know there is no Plan B career for me. Although I am absolutely sure that this is what I’m meant to do in life, I’ve recently come to the conclusion that teaching is not as glorious a job as I have often declared. It wasn’t until this year that I re-assessed my expectations as a teacher. Here are some myths I’ve recently tackled:
Teacher myth #1: Teachers don’t make a lot of money.
Well, technically, this is a half-truth. Many teachers make enough money to sustain themselves and probably a household as well (this varies by state and discipline, of course, but I chose good, old New York, where middle school teacher salaries are not half-bad). But between paying back the money on credit cards I used to pay for textbooks, paying back the interest on my loans, and buying materials for my classroom (which is sort of new to my pocket), I might as well be working for free. If someone out there in charge of salaries or budgets can hear me, please, do something about this discrepancy.
Teacher myth #2: Parents will be sympathetic to me if I open lines of communication.
Even from the first couple of weeks of being a MAT@USC student, I know that parent involvement is important to a student’s success. That is why I keep in contact with parents of my students. I had a student whose mother was willing to work with me and even sided with me on my reasoning as to why the daughter was being given certain consequences for objectionable behavior. One day, I again informed the mother that her daughter’s behavior in class was unacceptable. This time, the mother actually accused me of being unfair. Shocked, I eventually drummed up the courage to defend my position to this parent. The moral of the story? I had to learn to stick to my guns, and not let parents (or students or administrators for that matter) bully me on the “fairness” issue. Of course, I appreciate any and all input, but when it comes to being in the trenches, it’s my job to determine fair and equitable treatments in my classroom.
Teacher myth #3: A student’s failure falls on the shoulders of the teacher alone.
Thank you MAT@USC (and a few co-workers who listened to me wonder aloud about this) for nixing this idea, something I’ve struggled with the most this year. Recently, I found out that one of my students may be held back because he didn’t pass the state math exam. A few weeks ago, I would have felt totally responsible for this. But now that I’ve read and learned about the many factors leading to a student’s success, I don’t feel that the burden is mine alone. After all, I only saw him a few hours a day at the after-school program where I teach. Accountability is shared by many partners in the education community—parent, teacher, community member, student. If one partner is not working in tandem, we all know what that leads to.
Teacher myth #4: If I ask for help, it means I’m an incompetent teacher.
Truthfully, I’m still working on debunking this myth. In a way, my applying to USC was my way of saying, “Help me be a better teacher!” For those of you who are not from a traditional Latino family, asking for help is equivalent to being a failure, so growing up with that in mind made me embarrassed of asking for assistance. I know it’s okay to ask for help, but it’s still hard to do. I’ll work on it. And hopefully by the end of this year, I won’t feel hypocritical when I tell my students that it’s okay to need a life saver thrown your way once in a while.
Sherina is enrolled in the MAT@USC with plans to become a teacher in New York where she one day aspires to teach in Harlem.
