I Teach

I teach Reading and writing And speaking And listening And computer skills And citizenship And teamwork And collaboration And questioning skills And thinking skills And hygiene And manners And caring And trustworthiness And tall kids And short kids And thin kids And thick kids And smart kids And struggling kids And patience And pride in self And self-esteem And hope And I laugh And I cry And I worry And I pray And I call DHS And I grade papers And I take classes And I answer calls And emails And texts And notes And I Zoom And FaceTime And I take it all home with me And it never leaves my mind And I don’t leave it on my desk And I’m on call to help with homework And with internet issues And computer problems And placate parents And hold my tongue And take “advice” from Non-educators because they All think they know what it’s like to be Me because, hey, they went to school. Hey, I’ve been to a hospital, But I don’t advise my doctor, And I’ve been to a courtroom, But I don’t advise judges, And I don’t call them after work hours And I don’t email them after work hours And I don’t expect them to drop Everything for me after work hours To answer questions that were answered During the work day when I wasn’t Listening. But I’m a teacher, So I do. And I answer the questions That were discussed in class And I am on call 24/7 And I take blame from parents For students not doing their work Or listening to directions Or following timelines And getting bad grades Because I am the teacher And that’s what I do. I teach.