Today I had an experience that I felt was a metaphor for my whole experience as a first year teacher at my school: The lock on my classroom had been broken for a long time and I finally complained to the AP and the custodian came to fix it...only he changed the lock to one that wasn't completely functional, but it worked well enough yesterday to serve the purpose.
However, today...I stepped out to return chart paper to my fellow teacher and I got locked out. I could not open the door. I went downstairs and both the AP AND the principal were there and I told them I couldn't get in and they said that the custodians were at lunch, and didn't seem to care.
So I went back upstairs and kicked my door until the lock broke.
Now, this metaphor can be seen in a couple of ways. Trying to teach my kids is sometimes like banging on a door that won't open...and then all of a sudden it does. The lack of support in my school is sometimes like banging against a closed door...I could go on.
Of course, now my door is broken again. But one kid asked what happened and I said I broke it and he said, "Damn Ms. Salisch, you strong."
