What Do Teachers Make?

[CosmicSurfer]

What Do Teachers Make?

Taylor Mali

www.taylormali.com

What Teachers Make, or

Objection Overruled, or

If things don't work out, you can always go to law school

He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn

from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about

teachers:

Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.

I decide to bite my tongue instead of his

and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests

that it's also true what they say about lawyers.

Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite conversation.

"I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor," he says.

"Be honest. What do you make?"

And I wish he hadn't done that

(asked me to be honest)

because, you see, I have a policy

about honesty and ass-kicking:

if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor

and an A- feel like a slap in the face.

How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall

in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.

No, you may not ask a question.

Why won't I let you get a drink of water?

Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.

I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:

I hope I haven't called at a bad time,

I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.

Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"

And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are

and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder,

I make them question.

I make them criticize.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them write, write, write.

And then I make them read.

I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely

beautiful

over and over and over again until they will never misspell

either one of those words again.

I make them show all their work in math.

And hide it on their final drafts in English.

I make them understand that if you got this (brains)

then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you

by what you make, you give them this (the finger).

Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:

I make a goddamn difference! What about you?

[PeaceBlondie]

Wonderful. I nearly exploded when I saw that phrase, "Those who can't, teach" because it is false.

If you can read this, thank your teachers. If you learned business, law, medicine, etc., thank your teachers.

[wangsuda]

A good teacher should make a responsibile, critically thinking, world citizen. The question is, how many people want to be that?

[sibeymai]

The best teachers are rarely found in places dedicated to learning.

The things which help people to achieve happiness and satisfaction in their lives are often not taught and are rarely learned in those places either.

[Thaiboxer]

Interesting post there. I know one thing teachers don't make and that is a decent salary!

[Resa]

Like nurses teachers do a crucial job for the wellbeing of the society but don't get paid well.

[aussiestyle1983]

Wonderful. I nearly exploded when I saw that phrase, "Those who can't, teach" because it is false.

If you can read this, thank your teachers. If you learned business, law, medicine, etc., thank your teachers.

And, if you ended up teaching illegally in Thailand because you had no chance of a career in your country of origin because you didn't have the brains to go to uni and get a degree, thank your teachers

[Ijustwannateach]

It's possible to work hard and do reasonably as a teacher, but it's certainly not going to put most of us on any Forbes list.

However, the more restrictions, complications, and requirements societies place on us WITHOUT additional pay and support, the less likely it is that the persons who should be teachers, will be. It's a choice societies make, whether they make it consciously or not. I'm afraid that the choice most contemporary societies seem to make is one which doesn't reflect well on the success of their past teachers, or their hopes for a brighter tomorrow. Even if one person can afford more money for better teachers for his child, that child will still live in a world dominated by the products of the AVERAGE classroom. A sobering thought.

[Ijustwannateach]

Several posters have been tempted to turn the discussion on this thread into something curiously close to negative comments about teachers (or teachers in Thailand) in general. As this is supposed to be a relatively positive thread, I am only deleting those comments this time and not giving warnings; next time there will be warnings. Please check the Teaching Subforum Guidelines before posting in this subforum.

[Ijustwannateach]

I'm afraid this has become one of those unfortunate "doomed" threads which only attracts negative or off-topic posts despite the best of intentions.

"What teachers make thread- we hardly knew ye...."