Sacrifice

Sometimes as a teacher, you have to be the "bad guy".

You have to hold your students accountable for their actions and call them to task on their shortcomings. Frankly, it sucks. Ultimately we know that the action is for "their own good" and will help them out "in the long run" - but sometimes the cliches appended to the actions do not make you feel any better.

This week I had to pull one of my students out of the football team. After missing several classes, not doing assignments, the unspoken rule perhaps at our school is, if you cannot balance the both, academia must prevail. It was even easier to do this when the coach said "well he doh really play". Still...after all was said and done - it sucked.

Another sucky thing was I had to call in my Form 5s for a lunch time session, because of all the Friday holidays in this term. They came - but complained. I couldn't understand why they couldn't see that the very sacrifice they were making I had to do the same. Sigh...I understand the term "teacher burnout" now, even though I am not experiencing it myself, because I can see how after years and years of sometimes forcing children to do things that benefit them can take its toll.

I hope and pray that I always have the stamina to sacrifice and give the extra that our children deserve. When I cannot...I will resign.

“We, the unwilling,led by the unknowing,are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long,with so little,we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.”