From Frustration to Empathy: A Teacher's Journey

I don't want to be a teacher, but I went to school to be a teacher. And I ended up in a Title I school, which means that at least 75% of my kids lived in poverty. And she said, "They're kids. You need to be nicer." And I still didn't get it. And a short time after that, there was a young man who was late every day. I took him outside, gave him all kinds of crap. "You can't be late. You'll never be successful. You'll never hold a job." And he's looking at his shoes and he goes, "You know, Ms. Montgomery, I'm really sorry." He said, "But last night I slept on my uncle's couch and I didn't understand the bus system and I never know where I'm sleeping every night." And there I paused and I went, I'm talking, I'm yelling at a 14-year-old who's homeless. And that changed me. I realized that my job was not to just teach them, subject matter, but I had to figure out what they were dealing with every day. You know, we had kids who were hungry. Who cares about homework if you're hungry? So yeah, I realized what a brat I was and how much I worried about stuff that wasn't the least bit important. And so when you asked me about my students, I mean, I got better. I ended up teaching 20 years at the same school in South Phoenix. And teachers rarely see their students again. Yes, I taught a couple thousand kids probably. We rarely do, but everyone— some of them hit me up on Facebook. Some of them say nice things, which makes me want to cry.