I’m on Team Teacher

My husband spent over twenty years as an on the road service technician for a chemical company that sold cleaning chemicals to industrial laundries. A high percentage of customers were hospital laundries. His job prioritized two things. First, designing, installing and maintaining the pumping systems that automate the washing system, ginormous contraptions sometimes as big as a house. Piles of laundry entered in one end, went through various cycles of wash, rinse and spin. They exited at the other end ready for ironing and folding. Second was getting the cleaning chemistry mixed correctly to take out dirt, stains, and other stuff. He has a saying, “In hospitals, everything comes to the laundry. EVERYTHING.”

In our schools, everything comes to the teachers. EVERYTHING.

Our public schools provide education and preparation for entering our greater society. Reading, writing and arithmetic taught alongside working with others, asking questions, listening to answers.

The good, the bad, and the ugly. A teacher sees relationships grow between students, or sometimes students who turn on each other. Whatever happens on the bus, in the lunchroom, or hallway, teachers hear about it. Other parts of a student’s life may result in disruptive behavior in the classroom. What we call bad behavior can get a child sent to the principal, or to a counselor. Teachers often see it first, and later have a hand in directing that child toward a solution.

Special Education and Individualized Education Programs (IEP). Daily class routines…