TEACHING SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD

By Bill Ellis

Special to ASSIST News Service

SCOTT DEPOT, WV  (ANS) -- Have you ever thought about teaching somewhere in the world? If you are a qualified teacher, you do have what most people can only dream about and that¹s the ability to teach others to read, write, and do simple mathematics.

I hear about the need for teachers and that in a few years we will be faced with more severe teacher shortages then we can imagine. Someone, whose name I do not know, wrote the following words under the title, ³Think of Teaching?²

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said: "Let me see if I've got this right."

³You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning. And I'm supposed to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, modify their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and even censor their T-shirt messages and dress habits."

³You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self esteem."

³You want me to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship, fair play, how to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook, and how to apply for a job. "

³I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, offer advice, write letters of recommendation for student employment and scholarships, encourage respect for the cultural diversity of others, and make sure that I give the girls in my class fifty percent of my attention."

³My contract requires me to work on my own time after school, evenings and weekends grading papers."

³Also, I must spend my summer vacation, at my own expense, working toward advanced certification and a Masters degree. And on my own time you want me to attend committee and faculty meetings, PTA meetings, and participate in staff development training."

³I am to be a paragon of virtue, larger than life, so that my very presence will awe my students into being obedient and respectful of authority. And I am to pledge allegiance to family values and this current administration. "

³You want me to incorporate technology into the learning experience, monitor web sites, and relate personally with each student. That includes deciding who might be potentially dangerous and/or liable to commit a crime in school. "

³I am to make sure all students pass the mandatory state exams, even those who don't come to school regularly or complete any of their assignments. Plus, I am to make sure that all of the students with handicaps get an equal education regardless of the extent of their mental or physical handicap. And I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter and report card."

³All of this I'm to do with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a big smile and on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps!"

³You want me to do all of this and yet you expect me NOT TO PRAY?²

Teaching is not for cowards in public schools, parochial schools, private schools, home schools or any kind of schools.

One highly skilled educator, E. F. Ellis, Naples, Florida, replies, ³As incredible as it seems there are many thousands of dedicated teachers in America who are accomplishing all or most of these expectations each day.

³If college freshmen looked at these expectations many would be discouraged and consider it an impossible task and not worth the effort. Most of the teachers that I have worked with are a different breed. As the years go by you acquire an inner peace and confidence that none of these expectations will keep you from helping each of your students find a better way. Teaching is very hard work and not for the timid or the weak. I always figured that as long as we gave final exams, the students would be praying. As long as teachers have these seemingly impossible expectations, they too will always be praying many times a day, perhaps more often than many who enter the churches of America each Sunday.²

Pray daily for our teachers and the students they teach. They are all very special.