I start teaching again in three days. Of all the things this is–frightening, exciting, calling into question my long-held beliefs on whether I should work or steal from the rich as they travel through the forest–one thing it is not is a drill. Whether or not I go to the pre-academy staff lunch that I forgot to make an excuse not to go to, in three days, Iām going to be standing in front of a pod of high school students and a herd of college students.
If I were ever made into a cool action figure, my packaging would advertise both my kung fu grip and my interminable imposter syndrome. Batteries would not be included, but installing 2 AAA wherever they fit in me would give electric life to my tiny doll body and give grainy, unlicensed voice to such beloved catchphrases as ābut what if they hate meā and āAm I even qualified to teach them,ā and who could forget that instant classic that separates me from all the other entry-level college faculty toys āwhat if I fuck it all up?ā
Iām getting to that point in my career where I am confident in my work, but Iāve also kind of forgotten what reasons I have for that confidence. Like, I know Iām pretty good at my job, but Iāve been doing it for a bit, so I canāt remember what parts of what I do are special and unique to me and what parts are just what teachers should do. I genuinely canāt remember why exactly my teaching seemed like good teaching so Iām in a strange confidence limbo where I know Iām pretty good at what I do, but I just cannot pinpoint why.
So Iāve had to start thinking of new reasons that I might be qualified or prepared or emotionally stalwart enough to stand in front of a relentless tide of youth and say āhey, do writing now please.ā

First, Iāve been talking to my cat, my partner, and our puppy. I do this because all of these living, breathing, thinking entities seem to like me. Weāve all lived in the same apartment for a few months now and nobody has eaten each other, so that seems like a good sign. I figure that if three living beings of general wholesome benevolence can like me for this long while constantly being near me, I can convince a bunch of students to tolerate me for 4 weeks. Granted, Iām probably not going to cook delicious food for my students, but I think Iāll be ok regardless.
Iāve started staring at my degree and reminding myself that I actually earned that and I didnāt just order it from some weird shop online. Only, my degree hasnāt arrived yet. Itās still in the mail because shipping a bit of paper 5 miles apparently still takes 4 weeks. So Iāve been staring at the email saying my degree is in the mail because thatās as close as I can get to concrete validation that I have the academic credentials to take these children and their intimidating knowledge of internet vernacular and make them write about shit they only care about for an hour at a time.

I might fuck it all up. Iāve fucked up before. I drew a pentagram on my whiteboard once, and I wasnāt even trying to indoctrinate my students into anything other than a weird way of drawing out the rhetorical situation. I once gave my class a day off just so I could finish grading their papers before they turned in their next one. I once thought it was a good idea to give extra credit for picking out grammatical errors in my own handouts and powerpoints. No pretentious owl nor grad student has ever had to fight so hard to defend their use of āwhom.ā For me, teaching has been a constant negotiation of how I fuck up and how I can still make myself useful to my students so Iāve been thinking back to all the things Iāve done that seemed like a total blunder at the head of my class. And Iām remembering that sometimes those things turned out to be the best lessons. A day where I just forgot to write a lesson turned into one of my favorite activities where I demand my students analyze a series of more complex images and make wild-but-arguable claims about them. The time I drew a pentagram was a tiny bonding moment between me and the student who saw me mouth āwhoopsieā and quickly erase half of the circle and start calling it a parenthesis. The extra credit⦠was just a mistake, not offering that shit ever again. I can transform totally fuck-uppery into adequacy if I need to.

I wonder if anyone ever reads this blog and thinks āwow, so glad Iām not their student.ā That would be a valid thought. I wouldnāt want to be my student either. Iām a weird teacher that bounces between asking my students to spend entire class periods doing dense, analytical writing and spending whole class periods on dense, analytical arts and crafts for which I bring my own impressive box of crayons. I donāt really think Iām a good teacher, but Iām convincing myself that I wonāt waste the time of a bunch of students that seem generally smarter and more driven than I ever was when I was their age. And if I do suddenly notice Iāve done something I didnāt need to, if I realize Iāve not used the time in the best, most useful way, well fuck it, they wonāt notice every time.
I love this. I wish you had been my teacher, but I had others to fuck me up.
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Ha! Thank you. I think I’m also pretty fucked up by a few specific teachers, and I’d pick me over them too
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Probably, though, I could’ve been one of your teachers.
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Hmm there’s a chance. I don’t remember a lot of my youth, so anyone could have been involved
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You are incredibly talented, and my bladder agrees-REALLY, REALLY funny. Next time I’ll wear protection. š
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Thank you! As I write many things while sitting on the edge of my bathtub, I encourage anyone who reads my posts to do it too as some form of protection
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LMAO!!!!!!!!
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I do confess I have a strange daydream in which I will sit in one of your classes. And watch the look of terror in your face as you realize this idiot who keeps calling you a jerky robot is sitting right in front of you. lol
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You’d fit right in among my other students, who usually only take a week or two to start calling me names. My favorite was when they called me encyclopedia because random students kept asking about super esoteric things I accidentally knew about.
But then again, if I see someone suspicious and vaguely familiar in my next batch of students, I have a real door and an escape bike ready
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Your students are already ruined. Either their parents, a funny uncle, or a neighbourhood weirdo took care of this long ago. You are more than likely overqualified for the job, given that there are many English teachers that are teaching English who can’t spell their own names. Also remember that you are underpaid, since you are an English teacher. You owe nothing to no one. Just do what you think is your job and if the students didn’t learn anything, it’s probably because they were too lazy. I mean really, perspective. Also, no one wants your job because it is poorly paid. Let’s say you actually were a bad teacher. You could keep your job because nobody wants it. You’ve got it made! Do you think I turned some negatives into positives here, or should I see a therapist? LOL
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Remarkably, there was some stuff competition for this definitely underpaid job. Sone of the competition were bad teachers though, so you’re definitely right there. Lol I think my therapist would tell me to do what made me happy and content with my work and that means going crazy trying to out-teach every teacher around me like it’s an academic cagematch
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People competed with you! Oh dear. Isn’t it weird how we spend so much time making ourselves smarter to become slaves? I always wonder what I will do if I have to return to the USA. My sister always says, “well, you could teach college Spanish again” and I laugh a lot at her.
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Yeah, there was a lot of competition for this entry level teaching gig. It’s wild. Stay out of the craziness here. I’m just getting involved in it, and it’s wild.
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One thing I can say with certainty, your students wonāt be bored!
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That is definitely a confort
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I can tell, just by your words to this wonderful essay that indeed you are a fine teacher. The constant re-evaluation of your teaching, how you hold the students in such high respect. And your candor! Love it.
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Thank you! “Constant re-evaluation” is a such a nice way of re-branding constant and obsessive self doubt.
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