If you’ve never taught then you do not know how true this is. You have to get together worksheets or a film or something constructive for the kids to do so that they aren’t bored and drive the substitute crazy. Sometimes that’s a lot more work than just being there suffering through and teaching. Many times I have gone in sick just because the task of getting together something else for the students to do was worse than actually going in.

Yesterday, I had to figure out assignments for all of my classes since I would not be at school today. Even though I’m battling a cold, and would like to stay at home in bed, I actually have something I’d much rather be doing today. Most teachers are going to think I’m crazy for wanting to do this, but I’m actually very excited. I’m going to a professional development workshop today. It’s a topic that I love, and something that my master’s degree was centered on, but I do expect to learn more about this area of the topic.

Unlike most of my students, I love learning new things. I love being able to sit and listen to an expert and take notes. Honestly, if I could be a professional student and make decent money doing so, I’d do it in a heartbeat. However, unless I go back and get another master’s degree, I think my days as a student are over, except for professional development. Grant it, I’d love the chance to go back and get a degree in library science, counseling, American literature, or theology. If I were independently wealthy, and never had to worry about money, I’d go for degrees in all four, and maybe a few languages too. Until I win the lottery, those are just dreams.

So where do we go, all the teachers, when the bell rings at 3 o’clock? Students don’t really think we go anywhere. Except home, maybe, to grade papers and plan lessons and think up pop quizzes.

And when students find out otherwise, it’s a strange experience. Many people remember it vividly: the disorienting feeling of encountering your teacher in the grocery store, or in the line at McDonald’s, talking and acting just like other grownups. A jarring reminder that teachers have lives outside the classroom.

But of course teachers go off and do all sorts of things: They write books and play music and run for office and start businesses. For some, a life outside the classroom is an economic necessity. In many states, more than 1 in 5 teachers has a second job.

I currently don’t have a second job. I used to teach adjunct at a local college, but because of cutbacks and changes in administration, I no longer teach there, though I’d very much like to be in the college classroom once again.

However, one thing my students don’t know is that I do actually have a social life. I sometimes go to the movies, I go shopping (when I have the money), and I write this blog. Through this blog, I have friends all over the world, which is something hat would shock my students to no end. I also read a lot, which is something my students expect of me. Many though would be surprised to know that I cook nearly every night. I love cooking and it’s one of my hobbies, so is occasionally doing arts and crafts.

To be honest though, my life is often pretty boring. School takes up a lot of my time. Even when I’m not home, I really am sometimes grading papers, making quizzes, and preparing lesson plans for the week. Being a teacher is not an easy job, and we have to find our own rewards for it. More often then not, students don’t see the work that goes into balancing a life and being a teacher that does their best to provide them with the best education possible.

There is one thing that I truly hate about teaching: grading. Students always want to know if you’ve graded their test, and my usual nap swear is that I’m working on it. Grading is one thing that is a constant in the teaching profession. It really doesn’t matter if you teach college or high school, you still have to grade. I have a large stack that needs to be graded right now. I even brought it home to grade, and I despise bringing home work. By the end of the day, I can’t stand to look at another paper. I especially find it exasperating when I’ve said something many times in class and the students stills don’t know it. Nothing drives me insane quicker than to spend time preparing for class, doing my best to make things interesting, and the students just don’t care.

Apathy is the ugliest disease in America. I think seriously think that apathy will be the downfall of America. Students, and you see it in their parents too, want to be told how to think and what to think. The problem is that they listen to the wrong people. If they’d only listen to me, this world would be a better place. Haha!

Seriously, though, it is frightening how little students care these days. It’s scary how little respect they have for anything or anybody. It worries me that America’s youth want to only do the minimum. So few of them have the desire to be better, just average at best.

More and more, I’ve been thinking that I am just not cut out to teach high school. I just don’t have the patience or the energy. I much prefer to teach college, but so few jobs are out there and so many applicants vying for the same job. The whole thing becomes discouraging.

It’s another Monday, and I just wish I could stay in bed. Back to another week of school and spoiled kids who don’t care about learning, and rotten parents who think teachers are there to pass their kids. Not all of my students are that bad. In fact my first three classes of the day are pretty good; however, my other three classes are mostly rotten. They just don’t want to learn. I will whip them into shape, or they can choose to take my class again next year. I have no illusion that people are going to like history and English, but they don’t have a choice. All of the classes I teach are required, and if the students don’t pass, they don’t move on to the next grade. It makes it difficult at times, but I do my best to make it as interesting as possible.

In a recent study released by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, nearly three times the amount of LGBT youth respondents — and particularly those in rural areas — reported bullying and harassment online, as compared to their non-LGBT peers (42 percent of LGBT youth versus 15 percent of straight, cisgender youth). In addition, LGBT youth were twice as likely to report being harassed via text message.

Billed as the first study to deeply explore the Internet experiences of LGBT youth, Out Online: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth on the Internet drew on a national survey of 5,680 students in middle and high school.

Reported effects of bullying included lowered self-esteem, higher likelihood of depression, and lowered grade point averages. But while the Internet exposed respondents to more harassment, users also reported increased peer support, access to health information, and opportunities for civic engagement.

“The Internet does not serve to simply reinforce the negative dynamics found offline regarding bullying and harassment,” said Michelle Ybarra, the president and research director of the Center for Innovative Health Research, in a statement. “Rather, this technology also offers LGBT youth critical tools for coping with these negative experiences.”

The study found LGBT youth nearly twice as likely to research medical information online (81 percent of LGBT youth vs. 46 percent of non-LGBT youth), with transgender youth proving particularly proactive. Half reported having at least one close friend online, as compared to only 19 percent of their non-LGBT peers who said they had at least one close friend online.

This study begs the question? Are LGBT youth worse off because of cyber-bullying or better of more information and easier access to that information? I tend to think LGBT youth are better off because they have greater and easier access of information about sexuality and health. From my experience as a teacher, LGB youth are more accepted by their peers, even those only perceived to be LGB. (I exclude the “T” because, and not to sound insensitive, transsexual youth are not yet as easily understood by the current generation.) It is often socially unacceptable to bully your peers face-to-face; however, we all know that some people can use the internet to be jerks and bully those who they wouldn’t have the courage to bully in person.

Bullying is going to happen. We can try to prevent it in our schools, but we cannot be everywhere all the time. We have to also rely on students to report the problem. I do think most schools do a remarkable job of preventing bullying on campus, but cyber-bullying is something we had a harder time controlling. Kids can use anonymity to cyber-bully, and they can also prevent parents and faculty from monitoring social media by keeping their Twitter, Instagram, Kik and Facebook accounts private and/or secret.

It’s a new generation, a new world, and new technology that makes cyber-bullying possible. We must remain more vigilant in our protection of our youth. At the same time, we should encourage LGBT youth to use the internet in a positive way and to gain greater information about their sexuality. Let the positive aspects of the internet, networking and information, outweigh the negative impact of cyber-bullying.

“School’s Out” by Alice Cooper keeps playing in my mind:

No more pencils no more books
No more teacher’s dirty looks
Out for summer
Out till fall
We might not come back at all
School’s out forever
School’s out for summer
School’s out with fever
School’s out completely
Alice Cooper – “School’s Out”

Today is my first official day of summer. Since I don’t have to go to school today, I actually get to go to my niece’s kindergarten graduation. She doesn’t know that I’m coming, so it will be a big surprise, especially since her sorry ass father would rather go on a motorcycle ride than see his daughter graduate from kindergarten. I’m so excited to get to go, because I am usually in school when they have special programs and such, but I will finally be able to go to something of my niece’s.

Then tonight, I have a wonderful date planned. Dinner at a Thai restaurant and then a relaxing evening hanging out with my date. It should be a nice night.

Its so good to be free at last.

The play was a great success. We had a nearly sold out house on Friday night, and though it wasn’t quite as full on Saturday night, we had a more responsive crowd. The girls did better than I ever could have hoped. They are teenagers, so it wasn’t perfect, but they did as I said and they covered it well. All the practice and hard work paid off.

After a week of working no less than fifteen hours a day and appending my spring break the week before getting the set ready, I slept most of yesterday. My body was so tired, I was aching all over. However, I am glad that we also raised a fair amount of money for charity. Because the play we did had a fair amount to do with diabetes, we raised money for the American Diabetes Association.

I am so incredibly proud of my drama club, I just can’t say it enough.

A few notes, I’m not going to say which play because i need to remain anonymous. Also, the picture above is most likely from a production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” I’d love to do a Tennessee Williams play sometime, whenever I convince some boys to be in the plays.