What’s the hardest part of teaching?

Our classrooms are complex and often overcrowded and we lack the resources (intellectual, emotional, physical) to be successful with our students.

We do not have the time to connect with each student as much as we want or need to teach (life skills, document growth and struggles, communicate with home, support learning needs, and support extracurricular activities).

We do not have the counselling resources to keep up with needs (depression, anxiety, students living on their own, trauma). We do not have physical resources for our classrooms and often supply them from our own pocket.

We do not have the training to meet the ever increasing needs of the diverse student populations we have in our classrooms (Additional Language learners, de-escalating students, trauma informed teaching, working with Autism or ADHD, ODD). Student needs are not being met.

The government needs to be willing to explore classroom complexities with those in this profession, to truly understand the vastness of the realities of our classrooms.

So, ask me again what the hardest part of teaching is?

The hardest part of teaching is knowing what I could do to help students achieve if I had the proper resources or supports and recognizing how limited I am in our current underfunded system.

We need to ask ourselves what the cost will be if we do nothing. Your child matters. Contact your MLA. M. L. Gerlach, Regina