Things You Don't Learn In The Credential Program

I had an amazing credential program experience. I met great people, fantastic educators, and received the highest quality of education that truly prepared me for my career. I am so grateful for the experience. However, there is one thing I was not prepared for:

The Heartbreak

Though one class did touch on the issue of dealing with students who come from less than desirable home situations, no one tells you about how hard it is seeing kids come to school without food every day. The kids who tell you they didn't have dinner last night. The calls to CPS that are not dealt with adequately. The kids who are battling leukemia. The kids who have seen way to much at such a young age. The five year olds who are already bullies because their parents bully them. The students who are clearly struggling due to a learning disability that the parents neglect to deal with. The students who are juggled from foster family to foster family. 

All of these issues weigh heavily on the hearts of the teachers, and we are left feeling helpless. Sure we do ALL we can do for the child at school, but when they go home at the end of the day, the sadness kicks in. Then the wondering begins: what more can we do? So we start giving even more. We buy students food, we visit them at the hospital, we call parents do discuss how they can help their child succeed (most of whom ignore our calls), we tutor after school, we teach character above academics at times, but no matter what we do, we are left with the feeling that it is still not enough. 

I love my job even more than I thought I would. I work in a fabulous district, at a fantastic school, with the best of the best, but yet I get feelings of sadness and heartbreak that I cannot do more for the students who need it the most. 

Perhaps this is not taught in the teacher prep programs because it simply cannot be taught. One cannot be prepared for it. No matter how much I could have been taught about it, nothing would have prepared me for how it would affect me or on ways to deal with it.