Fall changes

Today...fall was in the air. Yes, that is right, fall. One of my favorite seasons. The change of the leaves, the darkening of the trees, and the glorious institution of football signal the best of the season. This fall, in my sixth year of teaching, I hope to finally master the balance between grading papers, reading essays, preparing lessons, and still have a life. As I walk down the halls of my school, I hear the echoes of my own feelings as a teacher. Today, we are asked for so much more, and yet we are given even less. Furloughed for three days, we are expected to grade papers faster, enter grades more frequently, compile data more efficiently, turn collected data into reports, and prepare differentiated lesson plans. With all of these demands, how can administrators, politicians, and parents even wonder why teacher burnout is at perhaps its highest peak. And yet...school must go on. Learning must continue. Papers must be graded. And football...yes football...must be played. So, this fall, starting today, I am going to accept the hand that has been dealt me, and embark on a new era in my teaching career, an era in which I am expected to do so much more, and yet receive so much less. And while I may not be happy about the changes being made to the world of education today, my students don't care, and they should not be the ones to suffer the most.