Learn to Teach

May is a crawl Not a sprint It is a long day's journey into night It is not enough coffee in the world It is going to bed at 8:30 It is not being ready for the alarm For there is no tired like teacher tired Where you've run out of post-its and are low on patience There are endless piles of papers There are exams and bubble sheets and proctoring There are last-ditch efforts to drastically alter grades There are human moments The kids are tired and they see you as a human, also tired The conversations aren't always as related to content Every kid you speak to and that speaks to you You give as much energy as you can to be present and to listen They need an ear, they need to feel heard and seen May is a crawl But the sun stays out later The weather is getting warmer The good moments are that much sweeter

Dear Writing, It's been a while. How have you been? I've been...it's been difficult. I can't say I didn't think about you. I've been busy. That's what I've been telling people and trying to convince myself. I wanted to be with you a lot. I thought about bringing you with me on my morning commute but felt embarrassed. I wanted to be with you when I got home each day and vent but I told myself that wasn't enough. That's not a "real" way to be with you. But here I am again. The typing on a blank screen, the words coming to mind and appearing on the page. The feeling that maybe just maybe, this is how we should be. Together. You are so hard to be with. When I try to spend every day with you, I get bored, annoyed. You frustrate me. You make me lose my motivation. You mock me with your stark white blankness while I search for something, anything to say. Yet - I miss you. When you aren't with me, I feel lost. I feel like I...