As requested, a rant on hero-teacher mythology. Just as we see the Madonna/whore duality that women experience, teachers are either lazy, the ones who drink &/or have mugs that say 3 reasons I teach: June, July, August, or the hero-teacher 1/n

We know the hero-teacher from the movies. The often white woman who sacrifices everything: $, personal life, time etc for her Ss. The T who comes in to save the poor Ss of color. Or the Ts who sacrifices themselves for their Ss when the shooter comes in the schools. 2/n

It seems like the ideal, right? Who wouldn't want to be the person who can have such an impact on children? Don't we want to be THAT teacher? NO 3/n

Guess what? Teachers don't belong on pedestals. What happens when you are put on a pedestal? 1) You are out of reach 2) You are no longer human 3) You can be knocked down 4) You don't matter 5) You will never be able to live up to what you represent 4/n

Ts should not be expected to sacrifice themselves. That's it. That's the tweet. This is an unhealthy & unrealistic expectation. 5/

You see Ts are people. I know, shocker. We are allowed to have our own families & our lives outside of school. While we might say that teaching is our calling, our passion, it's still a profession. 6/

My job is to educate, not to risk my life or my family's life. 7/

Don't get me wrong, I love teaching. I think about it all the time. I am constantly looking for ways to improve my teaching & my Ss understanding. This week alone, in my summer vacation, I have multiple meetings scheduled w/ Ts locally & across the country to be better. 8/

But that's my choice. Now, when Ts say that they are scared to return to the classroom they are described as lazy, good for nothing, and should have their salaries reduced. If we were really good Ts, if we really cared about the Ss, we wouldn't make a fuss. 9/

I am a good teacher, there is enough evidence out there to indicate that. But, I'm not a hero. I don't want to be on a pedestal, I want to teach. 10/

Schools should not be responsible for systemic problems. I can't feed, clothe, bathe every student. Schools and Ts by themselves can't fix every problem. Schools aren't designed to be babysitting centers to restart the economy. 11/

Yes, social emotional learning is crucial. So is not having faculty, staff, students, family members not come down w/ life long side effect or possibly even die. 12/

We don't want to be worshipped & idolized. We want to be respected. We want our experience, expertise, and opinions valued and taken into consideration. We want to teach. /end