In my first post I touched upon the fact that many teachers must grapple situations and circumstances that are so far from the actual act of teaching. I'm sure it's different for every teacher, but from my own experience as a SOT I've seen my fiancé come home exclaiming, "You are NOT going to believe what happened today!" almost on a daily basis. Sometimes they're comical stories of kids running into trees. Other times it may be about a parent acting irresponsibly during a field trip. Sometimes, she comes home carrying the weight of the struggles students go through at school and at home. After sharing these stories, she often sighs and says "If all I had to do was to teach, this job would be so much easier."
I've listened to these stories for the past year during the toughest year for any teacher--the first year. Anxiety levels are sky-high, nerves are barely in tact, and they prepare, and prepare, and prepare to execute perfect lesson plans. Yet, they get blindsided by a plethora of the other things.
Perhaps we have to call them something else. Teacher doesn't cut it.
This documentary titled "Children Full of Life" shines a light on the role a great teacher plays on their students. Mr. Kanamori, a 4th grade teacher in a public school in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, teaches compassion to his students above all else. As you'll see, it's not at all about assignments, tests, and grades.
WARNING: Tear-jerker alert.
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