Statement of Emancipation

In the continued interest of our collective mental health, I have decided to say that I no longer wish to feel as if I am doing something wrong as a teacher just because school buildings are set up that way. I mean, buildings are set up to have a kind of element of shame directed at teachers in that we always seem to be lacking in some area that we need to improve upon. I rebuke that mindset in our schools. If what I do isn’t good enough so that I can just relax and enjoy what I do, then I don’t want to do it. Luckily, in my new school, Lincoln High School, my WL team is one of the kindest and most loving groups of people I could ever hope to be around, and the same is true for the entire administrative team. I think it is that fact that allows me to even get clear enough to think this way, to make this statement, to say these words, which is really a big thing for me to speak after what I’ve been through over the past two years in a school with snakes for administrators. This is a kind of statement of emancipation, if you will. (By the way, look for me in the audience at Obama’s speech in Denver tomorrow – I’ll be the good looking older gentleman with the TPRS t-shirt on – just kidding, don’t look for a TPRS t-shirt, but look for a good looking older gentleman.) Really, you guys, we aren’t doing anything wrong and we never were. We’re trying to do a good job as we replace a system that is completely broken down and beyond repair. It’s not just the buildings in need of repair, it’s what’s going on inside of them at the hands of some really narrow minded people who have yet to drag their feet out of the twentieth century. We are doing this work because nobody else is. We shouldn’t feel faulted or inadequate in any way for those efforts on behalf of our communities and our nation. We should be able to walk into our school buildings and relax and be happy. These are our lives we’re talking about here. I refuse to let anyone’s thoughts or attitudes toward me or any comments by them ravage and destroy the beautiful garden that has become my professional life as a TPRS teacher. I rebuke all who would try doing that to me, and I rebuke all who would try doing that to my colleagues on this blog, and that includes no small amount of people.