I Want You So Badly It Hurts!

Don't worry. This is not some sick and twisted teacher story with inappropriate undertones (as the main title may have led you to believe at first).

On the contrary, this is a plea from a passionate ELA (English Language Arts) teacher, known for her unwavering and rigorous instructional standards, her fun-yet-structured classroom management and student motivation style, and last but not least...the colorful flowers she wears in her hair while teaching....every. single. day.

I've taught for twenty-three years (and counting) in various states within the U.S & my ultimate goal is to share my expertise on the international frontier as an Educational Consultant specializing in ELA Rigor & Student Engagement and Motivation i.e. Classroom Management Strategies. Towards this goal, I have attained my Bachelor of Arts in English Education with Minor in Political Science (Kean University); I also earned my Masters in Education specializing in Teaching & Learning in a Self-Designed Program from the Harvard University School of Education. I hold an International Teacher Trainer's Certification in Classroom Management from the Center for Teacher Effectiveness (CTE) as well as Reading Certification and English Certifications from Florida and New Jersey, respectively (Grades 6-12 for both).

So what you say...LOL! Get to it! What is this plea, you ask? Here it is...

I want YOU: school districts, school superintendents, principals, teachers, education support staff, parents, private schools, homeschoolers, virtual learners, and virtual instructors...and all the aforementioned worldwide...to give me just ONE CHANCE to show you that YOU NEED ME to help turn your school district, classroom, and child around towards the BEST version of them, towards EXCELLENCE, climbing to and attaining success. As the rapper Nas once stated "All I need is one mic." Likewise, all I need is ONE TIME to stand before you (or present before you virtually) to show you the passion, rigor, and excellence you are desperately seeking for your student(s); and, I assure you you won't be able to get enough of me (you will want more and more of the good stuff I provide)! For my application essay for Harvard, I based my entire 12-page essay (requirement for the application) on the novel Like Water for Chocolate. I specifically honed in on the part of the novel where the main character, a Mexican young lady, was giving an analogy about how passionate she felt towards her male suitor...she equated that passion to the temperature boiled water must reach to melt chocolate for the perfect Mexican Hot Chocolate to be created. My analogous comparison was that I had to find the right temperature for each one of my students in order to create the perfect concoction instructionally that would allow them to achieve educational excellence. When I arrived at Harvard that Fall 2000, my application essay was selected as exemplary and displayed for incoming applicants to view; I was so honored. This is how passionate I feel about teaching young people and I carry this passion inside of me every day; thus, it exudes out of me whether I am teaching students or adults (I am a former District ELA Coach--I became one as soon as I graduated from Harvard and to date those were 5 of the best years of my career and life; I now wish to transition and do that worldwide).

I know exactly how to transfer that passion, rigor, and excellence for success that is deeply embedded in my DNA and my SOUL on to your beloved scholar, whether its your student(s) or your own child. How do I know? Why I am considered an expert in English Language Arts rigorous instruction and the motivation and engagement of students? Because I am called to do this...period. Literally, I mean it calls me in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning. I feel this unending beaconing to heal the world in the area of education; and, I know firsthand it starts with those on the frontlines: my fellow teachers.

I lovingly call and seriously consider SUPERHEROES...especially after we witnessed their miraculous feat of relearning how they were trained to teach and having to learn a brand new way of teaching with little to no training on how to do so (i.e. virtual teaching or in my case hybrid teaching, where I had to teach both in-person and virtual students simultaneously...and there was not one ounce of training provided to assist me in hastily having to do so with 190 H.S. students as I reentered my physical classroom in August 2020 after being on Quarantine at home since March 2020...and I was not the only teacher who had to do this this past school year; so, in light of ALL of this and so much more even prior to the Covid pandemic, in my direct experience, teachers are nothing less than SUPERHEROES).

However, unlike the superheroes we witness in cartoons, comics, and films, teachers are not "superhuman", although the tasks we have been asked to do oftentimes presumes such an unrealistic and trait of only fantasy. In all actuality, we teachers are simply human beings with a gift for educating young minds; but, more often than not, that gift comes with a hefty price tag (and for now I am not referring to our expensive Masters degrees which we must earn if we wish to make a decent salary; nor am I referring to the financial sacrifices we make in the first place in a field that does not honor our expertise and thus pays us pennies on the dollar in return). When I refer to us paying a hefty price for our teaching gift, I am referring to our emotional, mental, and physical reserve. This past year nearly depleted all of mine in every one of these aforementioned areas; and, trust me, I am one strong "Wonder Woman" type of person and teacher (many who know me would concur). Yet, even I was floundering this past school year, like a fish out of water, to just survive teaching on a daily basis.

Yes, this picture depicts me MANY days when I'd get home from work and my husband would ask me "How was your day, Love?" I'd burst out in tears and reply "I just can't do this anymore! It's just too much!" My mother can attest to this response as well since I replied to her same question in a similar manner on numerous occasions this past pandemic teaching year (2020-2021). Did I then and do I know still love teaching and my scholars as well? Absolutely. Unequivocally. Passionately. Devotedly. However, at the start and end of each day: I. Am. Only. Human...and, so is every other teacher in this world (as well as every Educational Administrator and Education Support Staff Member). The entire "village" had to come together this past school year like never before to raise our children and educate our scholars, and it was daunting to put it lightly. Yes, we love our calling, but that did not make this year any easier to contend with. It actually made it more difficult, because if we didn't care so much about our craft of teaching, and if we didn't care about educating youth at the highest level possible, we wouldn't have felt so pressured all year to "continue business as usual" when it was anything BUT usual! Teaching in a mask, being exposed to students with the Covid virus every single day (0ver 100 students to be exact), and dividing our attention (those teachers who did hybrid teaching like myself) between upwards of 18-20 virtual scholars + 18-20 in-person scholars simultaneously...were anything BUT usual instructional and learning situations.

So, where do I fit into this story? I am ready now more than ever before to launch out into the deep (internationally speaking) and train and coach my fellow teachers and educational administrators on how to adjust to this new way of instructional normalcy; the harsh reality is we will never go back to how we used to be. Covid-19 changed that permanently. Yes, many of our U.S. school districts are returning to full in-person instruction this Fall 2021; however, the scholars we will be teaching have not had a normal "in-person" instructional experience for well over 1 year now, whether their families opted to keep them home for safety purposes and take advantage of online instruction or whether they reported to a school building daily but had to contend with teachers who were splitting their instruction and attention between them and their virtual peers. Not one student whether here in the U.S. or abroad, or K-12 versus college, can say "Yes 2020-2021 was the most normal and wonderful school year ever!" We abruptly had to change how we "educating" our youth and that change is not temporary. That is where I come in. I experienced this trauma firsthand as did many of my fellow educators, for an entire school year + 1 additional quarter (end of 2019-2020 school year). I experienced hybrid teaching without training (as noted above) and every emotional struggle and the physical exhaustion like never before. Yet, I walked into my classroom every day with a smile on my face (genuine) and joy in my heart and soul...because I knew that that was the only thing I could control with the craziness swirling around me, and my scholars deserved nothing less from me. They, nor I, asked for this pandemic to wreck our world, but it did. And as ALWAYS, teachers were asked to resume instruction like nothing had ever happened to change the trajectory of our teaching. We had to make it look seamless (while we secretly struggled inside every step of the way); we had to utilize new technological systems without even really knowing how to do so but make it look like we did; we had to teach our curriculums from a virtual standpoint; we had to sit at our desks and not move around (that was the hardest for me hence this extra weight I am now carrying) for fear of "catching" Covid from our scholars. And again, we had to do ALL of this while making it look like things were still normal; and, we DID IT, not easily, but we educated our youth to the best of our human abilities and that makes us SUPERHEROES. But even superheroes need help once in a while. Batman had Robin; Superman had Lois Lane.

Consider me LOIS LANE (get the pun? My last name is LANE, smiles). I know that my fellow teachers are strong superheroes, but when they need a shoulder to lean on or someone to support their endeavors and give them instructional strategies that will help make their classroom dreamy again and not allow it to morph into a nightmarish monstrosity after the former pandemic teaching school year, I'll be there!

I just need that ONE CHANCE and I assure all educators and educational administrators: I will help their school district, school, classroom and child SOAR TO EXCELLENCE AND SUCCESS while maintaining passion and peace. Yes! It can be done. I can' wait to show others HOW SO.