Teacher Tormented Takes the Stage

So.....


Obviously, I've started a blog.  What inspired this?  You may ask.  The answer:  My students, society, and The Freedom Writers (and the Freedom Writer Teachers).

You can call me Miss B.  My students once did.  The students I have now?  Not so much.

Why the title Teacher Tormented?  Well because that is what I often am.  I know it has a connotation to be negative, but it isn't always.  Yes, I certainly feel tormented by my students (apathetic continuation high school students from the inner city); and, I certainly feel tormented by administration and their lack of understanding; and, I feel tormented by a huge vocal chunk of society that automatically judges me and finds me lacking because of my profession:  teacher, educator, profesoressa, maestra, and the many other platitudes that "apply".

However, most of all, I'm tormenting myself.  I feel like a failure as a teacher on a weekly, if not more, basis (even if my colleagues think I'm "Teacher of the Year").  I torment myself to do better, find the way, the road, to get through to my students and make a difference, teach them something, get them to learn and not to simply plug and chug.

So, welcome.  Welcome to my own little Freedom Writer's diary.  The freedom to express myself; the freedom to try, to be passionate, and to strive to make a difference despite the fact I sinfully think of some of my students as "rat bastards".