Labor Days Ahead

Alas,

the garden goddess is overwhelmed by the height of summer,

and I,

am returning to teaching

after a long sabbatical.

Tomorrow.

Alas.

Much of my word energy over the past few months has gone

to an article I am writing about

how No Child Left Behind

and other educational reforms

have created a generation of American college students

who are way far behind.

Tomorrow, I head back to classrooms full of 'em again.

My particular focus is on student writing.

Believe me, it's very difficult to teach writing

when you'd rather be writing.

I can theorize away about the problem,

but when faced with a class full of angry young people,

my words, and skills, wain.

Because these students are ANGRY.

Our youth KNOW they have not been educated.

They KNOW it's all been a farce,

and they are amused by teachers 

and administrators

who perpetuate it.

By their first year of university, in fact,

they expect all teachers to be overworked to a point that the students simply are spoonfed

what they need to know to pass the test.

So these dear untutored and undisciplined students get angry

when a teacher actually asks them to be responsible for their own learning.

ehow-college stress

I don't blame them,

or their teachers,

but I sure have my theories

on who to blame.

Hold on tight --

I may vent here.

Tonight,

this Labor Day night,

my thoughts and prayers go out to all

the teachers in the world,

burdened by testing and assessments so overwhelming

that they get in the way

of teaching.