GranolaBox

I’ve been back to work at school now for a week, which is why I haven’t been writing.

This year it was particularly hard to go back to work because for the first time in 15 years or so I actually had the whole summer off. People always comment that it must be great to have the summers off. Until this summer I would say “I don’t know, I haven’t had one off yet.” Usually the summer involves just about every part time job I can get my hands on. Usually that means teaching the dregs of academia in summer school and for the past few years, driving limousines. These jobs, and borrowing money against insurance or retirement gets me, and my ex-wives through the summer.

Over the summer my wife and I lived kind of like couples must have lived before the industrial revolution. She worked as hard as ever as Empress of the Internet, and I did my best to be the house-husband and attend a lot of recovery meetings. We didn’t work by the regimentation of the clock and usually stayed up working till all hours and sleeping till all hours. The best thing was that we did it all together.

The hardest thing about being back at school is having to be a certain place at a certain time ALL the time. It’s like a Pavlovian experiment - reconditioning myself to perform new tricks every time a bell rings, but unlike the dog I don’t get my yummy steak until payday. All that and I don’t see the Queen of my Universe until 4:00 at the earliest.

Enough whining though, it’s time to get all sappy about my job.

I love my job. Even though I had a wonderful summer, by late August I was itchin’ to teach again. A summer of blogging and protesting and being an active citizen really fired me up for creating a generation of active citizens who will one day attempt to slay the same windmills I do.

I miss the energy of the kids too. I teach 10th and 11th graders and although (to quote My Chemical Romance) “teenagers scare the livin’ shit out of me” they’re still infinitely lovable, especially when you only have to deal with them for 85 minutes every other day like I do.

Every year I get to pick a “project” kid… one who doesn’t get along with any other teacher who I eventually mold into a respectable human being for the 85 minutes I have them. Every year I get one or two kids that are just unbelievably gifted, and actually ask for more challenging things to do, and then go out and do them on their own while I get the credit for it.

The bottom line is that every year I get paid to do what I was born to do and what I love to do, even though I whine sometimes about doing it.

Filed under: Teaching on September 11th, 2007