To My Fellow Teachers (You Are Not A Failure)

You are not a failure
When that girl in the third row
Argues continually with you
About EVERYTHING
Because she's never been told "no" in her life
And had it really mean something
And because every time she goes home to her mama
And tells her about her day,
You somehow become the villain in the story.

You are not a failure
When that boy you sat right up front
Because he needed the extra attention and focus
Puts his head down and sleeps
Or explodes into a rage
Or just sits there and refuses to do anything
Because of something you sense going on behind the scenes
But which you can do nothing about.

You are not a failure
When those girls in the back
Whisper and giggle together
While glancing at you
And then say loudly how much they hate your class
And wish they could transfer out.

You are not a failure
When that girl you love so much
Cannot see the value in herself
But can only find it in a boy
Who is just a little older than her
And seems to treat her nice,
But clearly leads her into situations that
She should not be in
And no matter how much you express this to her,
She won't break up with him.

You are not a failure
When the "good" kids sit in the classroom
Rolling their eyes and waiting
For those four or five kids
To sit down and be quiet and listen to your instructions
So that they can learn something that day,
And you wish tracking weren't so politically incorrect
Because they'd ALL learn better in different ways
Instead of being held back
Because you just wasted eight minutes of class
Dealing with behavior issues.

You are not a failure
When that lesson you planned and spent so much time on
Falls completely flat
And that one kid in the back
Folds his arms and refuses to participate
Because it's not on the computer,
It's not what he wants to do.

You are not a failure
When you don't spend
Eight or nine hours outside of class every day
Making lessons and planning activities
Because you tried that once and were so exhausted
You snapped at every little thing
And you know that this isn't good for your students either,
But since all of the teachers on TV have it together,
Why can't you?

You are not a failure
When the little bright child
Comes up to you and shows you the scars on her arms
And tells you stories to break your heart
And you know you can do nothing about it
Beyond report it to the authorities
And pray.

You are not a failure
When you cannot meet the impossible goals
Your administrator, state, or federal government
Lined out for you
Without ever looking into you classroom
And seeing all the issues you truly face,
When the state test or measure of progress
Doesn't show improvement or results
Because it doesn't really measure anything at all
Except what a kid could do on one day,
If he slept the night before,
Or had breakfast that morning,
Or if maybe he had to pick his dad up off the floor
And walk his little brother to school
Before coming to your class.

You are not a failure
When you look at that other teacher down the hall from the outside
And her classes seem so much better managed,
Her lessons so much more fun,
But comparison is the thief of joy
And you don't know what happens
After she goes home at night
Or the door to her room closes.

You are not a failure
When you are so utterly exhausted
By your week of after school meetings, committees, and conferences
After you have spent eight hours trying to mold the young
Minds in your care
That you burst into tears and eat a whole bag of chocolate
And long for the weekend
If only because you can get some sleep
And hope things will look better on Monday.

You are not a failure
When Sunday nights cause your heart to beat quickly
Because you know you are going to have to wake up at six a.m.
Or earlier
To start the week all over again
And you're not sure you'll make it
Because there's still five months until June
And you're already so, so tired.

You are not a failure.
It may not look like it, but you are making a difference.
You are there.
You care.
You love them like your own,
And you want them to know, to make wise decisions.
You matter.
You will cry for them when they fall, and you will cry for yourself,
You will cry because you are in a broken system
That was not designed by Yahweh and is not the best way
To educate and enrich lives,
But is all that you have to work with right now
And is better than some kids would ever see otherwise,
And though the system may be broken,
That doesn't mean you're broken.
It doesn't mean the kids are broken.

You are not a failure.
You will cry for them at graduation, when they get accepted into
That college that they always dreamed of attending,
When that one girl you hoped and prayed would
Stop spending all of her time listening to music
And talking about boys
And not paying any attention in class
Suddenly wakes up to the world
And starts making goals and plans for her future.
When you see her break off the lies of her family
And not get pregnant before turning sixteen
Like all her big sisters did, and even her mom and aunts.

You are not a failure.
You will burst with pride
When they finally begin to understand a concept
That you've been hammering for weeks,
Or even better, get it the first time,
Before you even ask,
And you are amazed at their creativity
And insight.

You are not a failure.
You will laugh at their silly jokes and antics
And receive more hugs than anyone
Who doesn't work with kids.
You will watch them rise in triumph
And you can rise yourself,
Rise, rise, rise, rise
Above the circumstances that are lies
And see beyond the awful times
To the glory and the light.
And the hope and ideas that Yahweh placed
Inside of them
Inside of you
That you share with them
And maybe they will share, too.

You are not a failure.
You've taken on a great role.
You've chosen a profession that is mostly degraded,
Fighting impossible odds, rarely winning,
But sometimes you do.
You learn as much as your kids do,
From books and colleagues,
But also from them.

You are not a failure.
Teaching is hard.
Anybody who tells you different
Is lying.
They either have never been a teacher
Or they are trying to make themselves feel
Better by comparing themselves to your worst days
While only showing you their best.

We are the dreamers,
We are the warriors,
We are the conquerors and visionaries and truth seekers.
We are the ones who can do not only for ourselves,
But help others to learn to do for themselves as well.
We are the ones who cast a vision for those
Whose eyes have barely opened upon the world,
We are the ones who expand their minds,
Guard their hearts as best we can,
Show them something different from what they've always known,
Or, if they're lucky and we're lucky, expand upon the righteous vision
They've been taught at home
But we see boys and girls
Who come from such a range of backgrounds
That we wish we could save some of them
From what they have to see
And open the eyes of them all to see greater things.
To see the truth,
To see the One who can save them, really
Because we can't.

And even though we can't,
We are not failures.