The Quantum Change

Why do we become teachers? Most of those who enter the education profession do so because they feel the importance of helping young people become the best version of themselves. We hope to impact the generations who will live after us. We hope to make the world a little bit better for those kids who have little hope for themselves. We want to make a difference in the smallest of ways, in the daily ways, in the little things that make a child or teen's day just a little better. We also hope big, that our impact on our students will be lasting, and that they'll remember us in a positive light.

Middle school teachers feel these things even more deeply, having to help our kids navigate the storms of adolescence, the newfound freedom of middle school, the making and breaking of friendships, and the emotional longing of fitting in somewhere. Many people look back on their middle school years and cringe, remembering their own awkwardness, perhaps the first time they got into trouble, their first romantic interests, or maybe even how alone, out of place, and scared they were. Because of these memories, maybe middle school teachers get forgotten, or even blamed, for some of the mishaps of those years.

I've spent twenty years as a teacher, nineteen of those at the middle school level. It's where I've always felt I connected best with kids at this uncertain time in their lives. I hope that in my years spent doing this challenging work, I have made a small difference, and I have made someone's life better. I hope that I haven't caused any damage. 

Today, however, I feel the toll of these years. I've seen drastic changes in the world of education since I entered it as a student teacher in the fall of 2001. What has happened to education? Did this change creep up on us slowly, imperceptibly? Or is it the result of a single event? Why is this school year so heavy? Is it just the pandemic, or is there some larger problem looming? Schools have become battlegrounds, and teachers have come under attack. How do we fix it? Where do we start?