Ever since I gained a following I’ve learned that not everyone is going to like me. That’s part of being online. People make assumptions, create versions of you in their heads and decide who you are without ever speaking to you. Whether it’s based off of what they believe or what others made them believe.
Most of the time I can ignore it.
There is one comment that makes me so angry and that is “I feel bad for her students that she’s their teacher she must be horrible.”
You don’t know the teacher who spent weeks every summer building a classroom that felt warm, safe, inviting and comfortable because I wanted my students to feel like they belonged. You don’t know the teacher who created a closet full of clothes, hygiene products, school supplies, blankets and everyday essentials because I never wanted a student to go without something they needed. You don’t know the teacher who spent thousands of dollars of her own money making sure that closet stayed stocked. You don’t know about the snack cabinet that was always full. The mini fridge full of drinks. The weekend and holiday food bags students could take home not just for themselves but for their families. All for free to them throughout the day. You don’t know how many nights I spent worrying about whether my kids had enough to eat when they left school.
I participated in my schools Angel Tree every year. I adopted students for Christmas. I watched my seniors organize fundraisers and car washes so they could help families who had even less than they did. I watched those same students break down crying after delivering gifts because for the first time they truly understood what it meant to help someone else.
I still have hundreds of letters, notes and cards from former students. I get invited to graduations, weddings, baby showers and other major life milestones years after they leave my classroom. Not because I was perfect but because they knew I cared.
Teaching wasn’t a job I clocked into. It was my life and something I was very passionate about. I coached a sport every season and advised clubs. I spent countless hours before school, after school, on weekends and during breaks doing whatever I needed to make sure my students had what they needed to be successful. Everything I put into my classroom came out of my pocket.
So you can dislike me and you can criticize things I say or do online but one thing you will never take from me is the teacher I was. You will never take away the lives I touched, the students I loved, the respect they gave me or the years I spent pouring every ounce of myself into making sure my kids felt safe, seen, fed, heard and cared for.
What breaks my heart now is looking at what has happened to education. Watching funding disappear, watching teachers burn out, watching teachers not be supported, parents doing nothing and schools being asked to do more with less every year while the people making those decisions act like education is expendable. I know what happens inside those classrooms and I know the sacrifices teachers make because I’ve lived them and I would make them again without a single regret or recognition.
@SoloQJokerr I know but I’m not perfect and somethings just get to me more than others. Thank you for the kind words though! Always appreciative of you and our interactions.
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