I was a teacher before.

And I cannot stress this enough – I feel like my experience as a teacher has set me up to be a better school psychologist.

I know my situation is unique in that I’m working from home these days. I’m a remote school psych. And, while I’d much rather be in person many days, I’m also grateful that in this season of life, I can do this.

I can work.

And I can mom.

It is the most special thing to be able to pop out of my “office” after a meeting to give my baby a squeeze.The most wonderful thing to have flexible hours and be able to take my kid to the park for an hour in the middle of the day just cause it’s sunny and we have to take advantage!

A lot of these third-party companies providing virtual services to school districts require you to have at least one year in person. One year in an actual school building before they would consider hiring you.

And I can understand why.

Yesterday, I had planned to test a kid around 12pm my time. An hour before 12, the SpED teacher texted me and said the student wasn’t at school yet. She asked if we could push our session to later in the day.

I texted her back to let her know that we could make it work around 2pm my time.

At 2pm, I get a text from her saying, “Sorry. Dysregulated student. Be there soon!”

And, while I can see how something like this could be difficult for someone who wants to stick to a schedule, I completely get it.

The teacher was apologetic. Worried that she was wasting my time because she had already postponed our testing session and then showed up late.

But here’s what I see.

A teacher who couldn’t control when a student was showing up for school. A teacher who then had to head to the cafeteria to grab this student a hot lunch. Someone who had to deal with shitty WiFi and missing chromebooks. And someone who couldn’t be rigid and stick to a schedule because she had to handle whatever situation was happening right in front of her.

While I hopped from my living room to my bedroom office once the clock struck time, this teacher was walking through hallways, putting out fires and tending to kids’ needs in the moment.

So, sweet teacher. Never apologize.

YOU are the one doing the hard work. YOU are the one doing the important work.

There are popular memes out there that talk about how everyone should have a retail job or a server job so you can know what the experience is like – firsthand – when you’re on the other end.

This is how I feel about teaching.

I feel like everyone should experience – firsthand – a day in the life of a public school teacher.

It’s hard as shit.

And unpredictable.

And if everyone had to go through a few days of that? Well, maybe they’d value the profession a little more. And maybe they’d understand that teachers spend all day long accommodating so many student needs that maybe – just maybe – we can accommodate for theirs.

Question of the Day:

Who is/was your favorite teacher and why do you value them?