Sandy's Soapbox Today

3/3/08

Today on The Shifted Librarian I was looking at an article titled What Do Games Have to Do with Literacy? by jenny on precat. It promoted the idea of playing games (board, video, computer) to reinforce literacy. The claims are that games engage students, internalize concepts, build social skills, and provide opportunities curriculum doesn't offer.

Don't get me wrong when I say what I'm about to say because I'm hardly anti-game or anti-engagement; however when is the world going to wake the heck up and get the point that we entertain and spoil kids a little too much?! As a teacher, I get an earful from every direction (kids, parents, coworkers, administration....just about everybody in general) that every bad decision a kid makes is due to boredom, lack of engagement, lack of entertainment and, quite frankly, FREAKING FIREWORKS!! What message are we teaching? Certainly not the one you need for the real world.

That said, let's talk about the real world. My first job was waitressing. I was on my feet almost all of the time. My feet hurt, and my back hurt. I had to clean up other people's messes. I was not always happy or entertained. I did it anyway. I worked at an insurance processing center for 11 years. My first job there was filing. Again, I was on my feet most of the time. My feet hurt, and my back hurt. I was not always happy or entertained. I did it anyway. The past number of years I've been a 6th-grade teacher. My kids are often disrespectful and wear me out. With the clueless No Child Left Behind looming over everyone's head like a dark cloud, God is the only one who could sucessfully take on the load of a teacher's job. If I don't want to work on the weekends, I have to kill myself during the week by working approximately 12 plus hours daily. I guarantee you I am certainly not happy and, even if I were entertained, I would be too tired to enjoy it. In fact, I am writing this at 10:21 p.m. because it's the soonest I could get to it. I am in one of the most misunderstood, thankless jobs on the total planet. Guess what? I do it anyway.

In the end I make sure my kids get a good balance between fun and engaging and, ok, not so fun and engaging; however, by golly, you're going to sit up, stop whining, be respectful, and DO IT ANYWAY. This teacher is mean enough to try to prepare you to be successul in the real world. End of story. The queen teacher has spoken. DEAL.

Anyway, that's Sandy's soapbox for the day.