Teachers are often described as superheroes simply for doing our job. Teachers are not superheroes, but education is our kryptonite, and we need to save them.
Educators are often called "Superheroes". We are not heroes, but education is our kryptonite. Kryptonite is known for depriving Superman of his powers and making him weak. Being an educator is becoming debilitating and defeating teachers at a rapid pace. The bad guys are winning, and we need to save not only our teachers, but our kids.
As we've heard time and time again; teachers are the modern-day superhero. Teachers go to great lengths to reach every child and never gives up any child. We go above and beyond every day. We do not simply teach math, we:
• Teach social-emotional skills
• Create materials and engaging lessons
• Help all our students solve their everyday problems
• Nurse our students to health
• Differentiate our lessons
• We parent each student
• Teach technology skills
• Are the main janitor in our classroom
• Become our student’s loudest cheerleader
I am not saying that educators do not want to complete these tasks or hold these roles. The problem is we do, and we will. This is where education becomes our kryptonite. We give it all until we have nothing left for ourselves. Most schools are seeing the great resignation in teachers because of the high expectations but low reward. No matter what we do, it is never good enough for administration, parents, or the district.
We may have fifty small “wins” throughout the day, but an administrator might observe the one child not paying attention and reprimand us for it later. We may communicate effectively with twenty-six parents, but we hear about the negative phone calls, not the twenty-five positive ones. It's debilitating and creating a rapid burn out in passionate teachers. Thus, we are not defeating our kryptonite. The kryptonite is taking out the superhero.
What do we do? We advocate there is always a solution to a problem. What is the solution to one of the scariest crises in America? How do we prevent our kryptonite from defeating us? The obvious answer: pay. Of course, the pay for teachers needs to reflect our work, but that is not an overnight fix. Small, simple corrections are the answer. It can start with practicing what we preach. That is positive reinforcement. Administrators, parents, and the district needs to focus on the “wins” our teachers complete every moment of the day. We millions…. We only need to be recognized for one to make our day.
Remember when the pandemic first hit, and we all went into lockdown? Where school was at once forced online, and parents were STRESSED! Everyone was in agreeance that teachers are expected to do WAY too much and needs to be paid WAY more. If you’re an educator, you know that lasted 5 minutes. We need to bring that back! Don’t require the educators to be superheroes. Yes, I said require. This is because we aren’t given the choice is we want to be the superhero every single day. We do not need to be applauded for being able to juggle thirty different tasks at once. We need someone to take some items that we are juggling out of the circulation.
Teachers should not have to defeat the kryptonite. Every. Single. Day. Educators need to be normal, highly respected, members of society that live a simple, low stress life. Our teachers need it. Our kids need it.
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