School teachers are made of magic

There have been lots of comments recently on various platforms about teachers, and how our education system is failing. Many suggest teaching is a very cushy job with summers off and that tax dollars are being wasted.

I wanted to shine a light on what it truly means to be a teacher.

I have saved a child’s life. Once during my first year of teaching, a child was choking and I performed the Heimlich maneuver. When they spat out the food and started breathing again, I turned my back to my classroom to hide my fear and the tears that were running down my face. 

Countless times, I have practiced lockdown drills and imagined what it would be like if an active shooter came into our school. I have hidden silently time and time again in a dark classroom, with 20 students, thinking there was no way a bullet would get past me. I would put my body in front of my students, without hesitation. 

I’ve been a friend and counselor for students who have troubles, and then had to wrestle with the ethical dilemmas and mandatory reporting that comes with being informed of trauma. 

I’ve fed children daily who came to school with no snack and have purchased supplies, prize boxes, coats, toys and books – all with my own money. 

I’ve provided academic and creative outlets for students who had no confidence and didn’t think they had any talent. I’ve seen children finally realize who they want to be, because according to one child, “I was made of magic.”

I’ve written a grant for an international art exchange project, because I wanted to do it and we needed the money to pay for it. It took hours and hours of work. 

I’ve run numerous afterschool clubs and attended a gazillion afterschool events and fundraisers.

During COVID, I reimagined the way I could teach 20 students online, creating hundreds of packets of homework, designing slideshows and interactive media. As a hybrid teacher, I broke the rules and put myself at risk daily because I was teaching phonics, and you can’t teach phonics without showing your mouth. 

I spent many evenings having conversations with parents or staff, and numerous nights I couldn’t sleep because I had a cool idea for a project I wanted to do or was worried about a student.

Finally, during the famous “summer off,” I was doing professional development, taking classes, researching, planning the coming year and shopping at book fairs. Many of my coworkers worked second jobs, making more in the summer than they do during the whole school year.

Being a teacher is a 24-hour-a-day job. It is one of the hardest, most challenging, intense and emotional jobs.

If our education system is underperforming, it is not the teachers. They’re gritty, courageous mentors, fierce and unwavering in their strength, dedication and compassion. If you ask any student, they’d probably tell you they are made of magic.