69ý

Teaching Profession

Tiny Teaching Stories: ‘I’m Just Not Ready to Go Home Yet’

December 04, 2019 3 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

The Powerful Moments of Your Lives, Distilled

We asked teachers to share their triumphs and frustrations, the hilarious or absurd moments of their lives, in no more than 100 words.

For more Tiny Teaching Stories, click here.

To submit your own story, click here.

Getty + Laura Baker/Education Week

‘I’m Just Not Ready to Go Home Yet’

BRIC ARCHIVE

I was secretly ecstatic no one showed for optional Thursday tutoring, and was hurriedly tidying my desk when she popped her head in. “Miss, are you tutoring today?” If only I’d left five minutes earlier ... “Absolutely! What do you need help with?” She entered. “Nothing. I’m just not ready to go home yet.” In the next hour, she shared her story: her dad’s betrayal, resulting half-sister, divorce, custody battle. I asked if she was being hurt. “No abuse, just no love,” she said. At 5:15 p.m. she stood abruptly. “Sorry. It’s late.” I hugged her and said, “Next Thursday, then?”

Isabel Rodriguez
8th grade English/language arts
El Paso, Texas

‘The Little Girl Who’d Given Me All That She Could’

BRIC ARCHIVE

“Open your gifts!” my eager students chorus right before the bell sounded for winter break. Peering into my bags, I see coffee mugs, paperweights, gift cards. My eye catches a crudely wrapped present sitting on the corner of the desk. I carefully pick it up and unravel the strings to unveil a stained Snoopy stuffed animal with a slight tear and a missing eye. I scan the faces looking at me and say, “Snoopy—my favorite!” I see a small smile arise from the little girl who’d given me all that she could with all her heart.

Bryan Steele
Grades 4-8
Desert Center, Calif.

‘By Late Spring He Was a U.S. Citizen’

BRIC ARCHIVE

As the school year started, a senior I barely knew stood chatting in my doorway. With a green card, he said, he’d work after graduation. College wasn’t a real option; his family never had enough money to pay for citizenship papers, let alone college.

I thought otherwise.

Online, we found a local group to help. For his citizenship, I ordered test flash cards and raised application funds. He got a test date quickly. By late spring he was a U.S. citizen, looking at colleges with his girlfriend.

Few things I’ve done in my life have been more random or rewarding.

David Quinn
International Baccalaureate coordinator
Edmonds, Wash.

‘Thank You for Not Saying ‘But’’

BRIC ARCHIVE

“You didn’t say ‘but.’”

At first I couldn’t process her words or her meaning through her halting, tearful delivery. She gathered herself and said it again. “You didn’t say ‘but.’”

And then I knew. I knew that my last-day-of-the-year words had been just right.

“For as long as I can remember, teachers have been telling me, ‘You’re so smart, so talented … but you just don’t work hard enough.’” Her tears came faster, harder, as did mine. “Thank you for not saying ‘but.’”

Laurie Roberts
12th grade Advanced Placement Literature
Boise, Idaho

‘I Know They Will Not Pass’

BRIC ARCHIVE

My fourth year of teaching, three 5th grade special education students reading on a kindergarten level, sitting around a horseshoe table with me in the middle. They are taking the annual state reading assessment. I know they will not pass. They started 5th grade unable to read a word. Now they are diligently using their highlighters to look at every word, just like I taught them. I have tears in my eyes; they are trying to take this test the best they can. I am so proud of them.

Nancy Rodgers
Special education, 6th to 12th grade
Paris, Texas

About This Project

Teachers’ lives are packed with powerful moments: moments of triumph, frustration, absurdity, joy, revelation, and hilarity. We want to hear about them. Submit your Tiny Teaching Story, in no more than 100 words, here.

Related Tags:

Edited by Catherine Gewertz

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Teaching Profession New Findings on Teacher Morale Highlight Ways to Make It Better
A new College Board survey on teacher morale echoes some previous findings. But it also highlights opportunities for schools to improve it.
4 min read
A student raises her hand to share her work with her teacher.
A student raises her hand to share her work with her teacher.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Teaching Profession Opinion Teacher Contracts Need to Change. And It’s Not Just About Money
If we want to retain effective teaches, we should increase teacher compensation—but we need to do it strategically.
Karen Hawley Miles & David Rosenberg
4 min read
Final Piece Of The Puzzle. Two people about to shake hands over trading a jigsaw puzzle piece needed for the solution.
iStock/Getty Images + Education Week
Teaching Profession The State of Teaching Teachers Say the Public Views Them Negatively
The perception coincides with teachers' low levels of job satisfaction.
2 min read
survey teachers static
via Canva
Teaching Profession Download Play Teacher TV Bingo and Spot All the Teacher Tropes
It's trope bingo; spot the common (and often annoying) mischaracterizations.
Image of bingo cards, a remote control, and a television.
via Canva