Writing is like being able to put life into a snow globe. It takes the things that are too big and scary and reduces them into a form that I can put away when I want and look at from a distance. It also takes all that’s good in life and captures it into something I can take out when I want and look at close up and keep forever. It makes the bad things into something I can hold…and the good things into something I can hold onto. Both help so much that I need that little souvenir of life.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Sub Notes: May 7-11

Normal people have no clue about teaching. None. Once a writer friend of mine went around to schools to speak to the children about writing.

The first time she did most of a day, she couldn’t believe it. Good lord! she said. She was wiped out. Drained. Sapped. Zapped. She went home and slept for hours.

Well, yes.

I’m just a sub, but I get to watch teachers work their magic.I see how some of them  feed children because no one else does. I see them fight—hard—for children no one else seems to care about.They do it because they know someone must.

The best teachers are “on” all day long. From seven AM to three PM, and then later for the planning and grading and coaching and conferences, they are on. No hour lunches. No noon-time errands. Sometimes no bathroom breaks, even. Every minute of the day, timed like a bomb that explodes bells and stampeding feet and slamming lockers.

The best teachers teach with their minds and bodies and hearts and souls—all at once. They are simultaneously divining rods of knowledge and wellsprings of empathy. They channel God and Einstein and Shakespeare and Leno and Oprah. They are demigods in these microcosms of society.

This is Teacher Appreciation Week. Have you hugged a teacher today?

Those who can, teach. Those you can’t go into some less significant line of work. ~Words inscribed on a teacher’s coffee cup
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5 comments:

  1. Sioux RoslawskiMay 8, 2012 at 4:41 PM

    Behind every brilliant doctor and lawyer and actor and writer and plumber is a teacher.

    And as "just" a sub, you have to connect with kids that you don't work with every day--a difficult job. Many subs just strive for crowd control--you have higher expectations for yourself, Tammy.

    So, you're NOT "just" a sub (and you're also a freelance writer).

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  2. Linda O'ConnellMay 9, 2012 at 6:46 PM

    "They channel God, Einstein, Shakespeare, and Leno and Oprah..." You brought tears to my eyes. The good teachers give it all they've got and then some. I happen to know a couple of wonderful WWWPs who are terrific teachers.

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  3. LynnMay 9, 2012 at 11:01 PM

    Yeah, there are three WWWPs that are awesome teachers. You all rock. If there was a teacher around, I'd give them a hug.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Donna VolkenanntMay 10, 2012 at 7:58 AM

    Here's to all the wonderful teachers in the world!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pat WahlerMay 10, 2012 at 8:17 PM

    It is often a teacher that provides life-long inspiration. Thanks for the reminder, Tammy.

    And thanks for your service as a sub. Stepping in at the last minute to save the day for someone else, makes you a lot like Superwoman!

    Pat
    Critter Alley

    ReplyDelete

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