Blog Post #4: Intro to "See You When We Get There"

I have recently begun reading my teacher story entitled See You When We Get There by Gregory Michie. After only a few pages into the first chapter I found myself relating very well to some of the subject matter at hand. The first chapter begins by explaining the story of a new teacher who is teaching in the school she went to as a child. The school is in Chicago, Illinois, which is where I am from. While I grew up in the suburbs and was never exposed to Chicago public schools, all my life I have been told by others how bad the city school system is. In this teacher's story, it is explained that she grew up in a poor family and was the first in her family to attend college. She became a teacher so that she could go back and relate to and impact the students who were in similar situations as her growing up. I am fully aware of the poverty issues in our world today and how they affect schooling. While I don't necessarily have a background that acts as my motivation for teaching, I have still always taken these issues into account when thinking about what I want to do with my life. There have been many times in my life when I have heard people around me complain about the Chicago Public School System not being very good, and I have even heard from teachers who used to work for Chicago Public Schools how terrible of a work environment it is. I often think of it as the responsibility of teachers to take a stand and work hard towards bettering the schooling of the students around them but I know that as hard as they may try they may not even be able to make a difference due to the stubbornness of some school officials. When I become a teacher, I would be very interested in teaching in problem areas. I am already planning on later going back to school for a master's degree so that I can get involved in school administration, so I hope to be able to make an even bigger difference on the schooling of children less fortunate than us. I know this is going to be a long process that cannot be done alone, but I would love to dedicate my time to the great cause of schooling. While many who work in these problem schools do have backgrounds that have brought them there to give back, I still think my background of hearing about the problems in Chicago public schools is just as valid for motivation. I look forward to reading more of this book and learning about teachers working for change.