Where to begin!?

I should probably do a disclaimer to start this blog as this is not a reflection of our educational school system or every educator. But things are a bit stretched and people are over-worked, stressed and even more (as always) underpaid in today's public school systems all across this country. With the causes being budget cuts, mandates such as no child left behind, and all the other "programs and political BS that has filtered into our public school systems.
Good intentions-we all have them, we do things for the most part to help one another. Some days we succeed, some days we fall short. Lack of communication can cause a good intention to go bad quickly some times.
The teachers in any school systems seem to be under a great deal of stress now that there is even more demands for student performance and no more pay or help or resources out there to help them help students to reach goals. Resource and special education students are mainstreamed when possible but pulled out when help is needed. Which is great, don't get me wrong, but watching these students struggle in class to grasp a concept or learn a method and then ace a test that they were pulled out and proctored in, just blows my mind. What a dis-service we are doing to these kids when we don't teach them but "help" them instead.
I went to a private Catholic school and most of the teachers were lifetimers (now that I know what they got paid they had to have stayed only for the love of education and the students-otherwise I have no idea why-the pay stinks even more than at a public school). I was third youngest in my class so I struggled a bit at times. Math was not a favorite. My fourth grade teacher was fresh out of college, so maybe the ripe old age of 22? She was put in a classroom of 34 students to start the year. This was before the days were there special education classrooms and there were limited resource classes in which students who needed extra help were pulled out. By mid-school year our class size had jumped up to 36 students and things were interesting in that classroom each day-and not in a good way. Add to it some discipline issues and it was a train wreak most days. So by mid-year, when our numbers had jumped up to 36 students on one classroom, with a first year teacher, the students who struggled and the students who excelled were getting help they needed-either to understand and learn, or to keep moving on and ahead. Those of us in "the middle" were left to fend for ourselves for the most part. I was a "middle" student. And not to lay blame, but my math education that year went down the tubes because I didn't fit in the "struggling" or the "excelling" groups. It was a key year for fractions, multiplication and a whole host of other math skills I did not learn well. And my dislike for math grew as well because of this. So from that year on my math skills have been poor, and to this day lack. I still dislike math in gereral. I remember that poor teacher sitting there crying in frustration because of a variety of reasons-the kids who were just plain naughty and the demands and lack of help-I'm sure all big factors for this poor woman. It was her only year of teaching to my knowledge. Yes, I still feel guilty about that, even thought I was a quiet, well behaved child (I really was!). In the correct setting she may have went on to become a fantastic teacher. But neither she nor anyone in that class who were "average" had a snowball's chance in hell. Only because I loved to read did I continue to excel in English-I'd sit and read while all around me was going to hell in a hand basket! I was a nerd, who got lost in the "middle" when it comes to my math skills! Who's to blame-not sure where to go with that.
I've had some interesting experiences in my past 14 years of working in a public school system....there has been the bad
-the teacher who chewed me out and told me to stop helping a handicapped student up FOUR steps while she tried to manage snow pants, snow boots, a lunch bag, a winter coat and a backpack-she was taking one step at a time, while I stood and held a few of her items. I'd helped her three times....broke my heart to say no so I just cheered her on from there out. (I'm sure she still thinks I'm a mean person when I would not help her!) I know they were just trying to make her independent-okay I get that. But still...
Or the time I had a first grade teacher tell me her students were suppose to only get "fun" books not reading books from the library (I was helping them pick out "just right books" with the five-finger rule) "they read enough in the classroom, they only need "fun" books from the library" is what I was told. Heaven forbid we encourage students to get books they want and can read from the library in first grade! (this made me second guess my choice for a first grade teacher AFTER my son had had her!) Or to yesterday when I had two students ask me to proof a paper for a writing class. I did a minimal job as I was the third person to proof the paper for one student and there was little to fix. And the second paper was so bad I told the young man to READ his paper again and correct simple mistakes and to find someone else to proof it as the period was ending, it was a bit of a mess and I didn't have time. Then my big mistake....mentioning to the teacher, who's class these papers were for, that I had looked over two papers. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! There was swearing-on her part (the students were only to have other students from the class proof these papers NO ONE ELSE outside the class). Apologizing-on my part. And yet another lesson learned for me-I should have asked/checked/known better. But me and my stupid, "I'll help" mentality got in the way. STOP thinking with your heart Lynn!!
But now for the GOOD-the kids over the years who have loved a book I've recommended and came back to read more! The teachers who help me help students to become excited about reading-working together for the good of kids is always such a good feeling! The projects that I've helped kids with when it came to issues with technology. The students who have thanked me, and smiled because of something I did to help them from helping them with an assignment to printing something for a class. The high school English teacher who encouraged me and my writing and went on to make me the newspaper editor-I am forever grateful to. Thus the reason why I'm writing this blog. She made me realize my writing was an outlet and something I NEED for me!
Our school systems are far from perfect-as is any business. And it seems like the norm is we can't see the forest for the trees because of all the politics, lack of funding, shortage of personal, the workload and the list goes on and on. But for every bad experience there are 100-good and positive experiences that our students are having in their educational careers.
We always told our kids that when the coach stops yelling at you it means he/she has given up on you-you don't want that to happen. Some kids can't handle the "yelling" or their parents come running to Bobby's rescue because we've created a society where everyone gets a trophy-everyone is a winner-both winners and losers. Not a good outlook for our future with this mentality. For some kids the yelling pushes them to work harder and reach a goal, often a goal a teacher believes they can achieve long before the kid does-these are the kids who will go on to be successful in whatever they do with their lives including being parents or teachers. We are all teachers in some form or another.
So to anyone out there who feels like they can't do anything right, they are damned if they do and damned if they don't-just remember that every time you are knocked down you need to get right back up....sooner or later life will get tired of knocking you down!

Positive of the day:  It's Friday!!!! And we have a three day weekend. That's all I've got today, and it's enough!