Don't take it personally

I have a ton of teacher friends. Really, a lot. I have three friends that I'm really close to that are educators. And then, a lot of the girls I met in college were education majors.

I've also had a LOT of teachers. I went to school for... 18 years (counting Head Start). And... I'm here to tell ya... I can count on one hand how many good teachers I had. In fact, I think I had only one public education teacher that actually impressed me. Only one that seem to go out of their way to make sure I was actually learning the material instead of just doing well in the class. Only one teacher that showed an open interest in the knowledge their students had over a topic. He wasn't just focused on getting through however many chapters he needed to get through or even staying on task. He was so absorbed in making sure we were actually learning. He stepped outside of the box in every way that he could think of to ensure our learning and in more ways than any other teacher I had ever had. And, no, he wasn't an elementary school teacher. He was my high school chemistry teacher.

Once I got into college and declared the major I would actually graduate with I seen a huge difference. I think there is something to be said for people who study a certain area instead of 'general' education. My department professors were outstanding. I had my fair share of bad college profs too, but overwhelmingly my college professors were much better educators than any of the K-12 teachers I had.

I say all of that to say this: people have bad teachers, people have really bad experiences with public education. So it's frustrating to me when one of my teacher friends get all angry when they hear someone make a snippy comment about a teacher or about an experience. I can honestly say that one of my friends who teaches English is amazing. I've heard her talk about her students with a passion. I've heard about her ideas and they are geared toward helping her students learn. I have two more friends that haven't yet graduated, but I also feel they will be great teachers. But, they have to understand that are entering into a world where people do have preconceived ideas about them. Whether it be because of a student's past experience, a bad reputation, or whatever. You shouldn't get angry because someone is talking poorly about an educator... when in reality the comments are probably deserving.

I acknowledge that isn't always the case. I know how kids can be, I use to be one. I was probably at the top of the list of kids with bad attitudes towards teachers - because I did have so many bad experiences. There's no doubt that teachers put up with a lot of crap, but come on... so do porta potty workers. And so do people in my field of work, I have worked with all kinds of crazies too, not just students and parents. It's just a part of the gig that you signed up for.

And because of my experiences, my child will absolutely NOT go to public education. God willing I can home school them and if I can't then they will go to a private school. Yes, my experiences were that bad.

I know there are bad professionals in child development and family studies and I make comments about that frequently, Cory talks about bad programmers all the time. There are people that do what you do... and are really bad at it. So... when you hear about those stories don't be so quick to shut them down and turn all defensive or think that someone is just saying it to be snotty or rude. Don't take it personally. Defend your own honor, because really that's all you can do.