The Veterans of Teaching
Last night I was flipping through old photo albums, reminiscing about my first years in teaching which seem so sunny and bright. I know that I have gained efficiency, patience and organization since I first began yet forced changes in education have me questioning my assurances. Change insinuates that everything I have been doing was somehow wrong. Or in means that the vision I have promoted is suddenly coming to fruition. Those who institute change I regard warily since they are likely to move on in their careers without looking back. It makes sense to turn some attention to the veterans of education who still arrive to work with smiles, take on new challenges and converse without cynicism. These veterans of education have also been coaches who took me under wing when I was still a high school student. I adored them as individuals could not tell you where coaching began and where the teaching ended. They devoted endless time to us. Later, under their tutelage I began...