For years I've been teaching. For these same years I've been exposed to conversations nearly teachers in America. Each twenty-four hour period I hear people talk about what teachers are and what they are not. I hear these talks from people who haven't stepped foot in a classroom in decades, who base their opinions on sensationalized news stories, who use Facebook feeds to screen their version of truth.

I wish they could see what I've seen. Parents, politicians, critics of education. I wish that what I saw aligned with what I heard them say. Some say we are lazy. Some say we are unwilling to change. Some say we are failures. Just I run into what they don't. And, I see it everywhere.

I travel the nation – from the tundra of Alaska, to the borders of Texas, from dandy plains to deteriorating cities. I work with students. I interact with teachers. I talk with administrators and discover classrooms. And, I see educators across America in daily battles to better lives.

I see America teaching.

I come across teachers immersed in remote villages, battling against decades of poverty and political mistreatment to restore, inspire, and empower forgotten communities and their cultures. I meet them preparing impoverished students for a continually changing society while preserving centuries of tradition and heritage.

I See America Teaching

I meet teachers in inner cities living lives of excellence as they model character to malleable young minds. I see how they notwithstanding manage to motivate teens to enter their rooms instead of deal dope on streets that pay better than their broken classroom seats.

I meet teachers in oil boom towns revamping entire buildings equally populations double, preparing for more work, more direction, more pressure without compensation to friction match. I meet them preparing for what learning looks similar when one-half the class doesn't have a place to sit – and wondering how long it volition terminal until their funding flies out with the next migration.

I see teachers working without contracts, losing hundreds of dollars each calendar month, thousands of dollars each year to political ability games – and working only as difficult despite it all to fight for what's all-time for their students, their children.

From I See America Teaching by blogger Chase Mielke

I see teachers having alter after alter thrown in their way by suits removed from the classroom. I see professional person educators being chastised by policies written past politicians who itch with instant gratification – with no appreciation for the time, the energy, the investment it takes to transform one of America'southward most complex systems. And yet, I see these teachers show up each yr with openness and ambition to try new technologies and techniques, new curricula and concepts.

I run across teachers leaving their anger at the door as they try to restore dignity to the profession – a respect that gets lost every time Johnny on the news digs for juicy leads virtually a teacher controversy. I encounter thousands of models of integrity having to stand strong backside shadows of isolated scandals.

I see teachers stepping in equally surrogate parents for homeless kids, whether it be lending an ear to hear their stories, a repast to concur off their hunger, or a shelter to shield them from the cold.

I encounter teachers rallying communities and classrooms to overcome senseless tragedies equally their students and alumni get shot to decease in movie theaters or silenced by suicide. I see them standing strong to hone in on what little hope their kids have left, helping them harness a purpose for persevering.

From I See America Teaching

I see America didactics.

For those who run into teachers as failures, as frauds, as overpaid and underworked wastes of tax dollars, look again. Expect beyond your news feeds and detached memories. Because America is teaching – America is fighting to fix issues beyond our 12 ten 12 walls. America is fighting for every child, every day, in every way possible.

Await around y'all. And, you will see it. You will see educators defying the boldness they get dealt each day. You will see passion and persistence, talent and tenacity. Y'all will see America teaching.