Disclaimer: I mean no dis to Taylor Mali or his piece "What Teachers Make", which I think is awesome (and usually find motivational when I come back to it). This is just what happened at 4 in the morn when I finished a marathon grading / lesson planning session, and couldn't get back to sleep.
the thing about Taylor Mali is
he is no longer a teacher
years into budget cuts and standardized minds
i wonder how it feels
to be one of the thousand
sent into the war zone with his battle cry poem
to discover there is far too little pretty here
that nobility falls through the cracks
that most days you are more pharisee than messiah
and on others your students will hand you your cross
make nails of complacency and inattention
and pin you broken to this profession
what kind of difference are you making at 4 am
except to your tear ducts and blood pressure
i tell folks
i am a teacher
and some days
i wish i were any other thing
something not so heartbreaking
a little more inconsequential
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