Sunday, May 11, 2008 7:14 AM
by
jtspencer
why I'm glad I don't teach in the suburbs
On Friday, during first hour, I yelled at the students. I mean, I really screamed at them. By the end of the period, I was calm and told them honestly, "I'm sorry for yelling. Anger has been a struggle for me my whole life. When I was your age, I was getting in fights at school. At this point in my life, I am just occasionally yelling at a class. But it still doesn't feel good."
The students were in shock. None of them expected or demanded an apology. It made me think of my friends who teach in the suburbs. When they yell, they get e-mails. When they use a word like "hell" or "crap," they are reprimanded by an angry mob.
It's not that I hate the suburbs. I live in a suburb - albeit a lower-middle income area, where the demographics are mixed at it wavers between red and blue politically. The issue is that I have room to breath in the barrio where I teach. Which leads me to a top ten reasons why I love teaching in the barrio:
- I can say "crap" without anyone giving me crap
- I get tamales at Chrismastime instead of mugs I don't want
- Kids seem to appreciate the time I spend with them at lunch and before and after school
- Parents almost always choose my side of the story
- No one tells me I am being too liberal or too conservative when I teach government
- When students turn in projects, it is almost always their work (as opposed to a helicopter parent)
- I have had the opportunity to confront my own bias, racism and prejudice through some hard conversations
- When we do service in the poor community, we get a chance to change the view of both the community and our school. In other words, it doesn't feel so much like imperialism, or a bunch of suburban kids "cleaning up" the ghetto
- I actually get to use some of the four years of Spanish I had in high school
- The students are excited about technology, rather than complaining that our computers are "ghetto"
Again, it's not that the suburbs are bad. I know that in the 'burbs, there are fewer fights and the kids don't have Hot Cheetoh hands. Yet, I just feel at home where I am.