This is a cool website for cartoons.

There are also some interesting thoughts:

"According to the Department of Education, one in every five teachers leaves after the first year, and almost twice as many leave within three. If any business had that rate of turnover, someone would do something smart and strategic to fix it. This isn't any business. It's the most important business around, the gardeners of the landscape of the human race."


The first year. . . the first day . . . the first hour of teaching is lonely and tough. It get's better over time. I think it's a bit like white water rafting. The surface is constantly shifting. There are rocks. Spray hits you in the face. Keep your cool; don't turn over. Your temperature will rise. Constantly changing. First day you wonder can you get to the end of the run. Finally the bell comes. You made it. Tomorrow, you must run the same course again. But the water is different each day, higher, lower, faster, slower. And the administration will throw you curves as well. Changing bell schedule, money to take up, check off students who have done this, collect proof of residence. Counselors drop new students, often unhappy, in your lap.

After a week, new teachers are wondering, "What have I done? How am I going to live like this?" Many go home and cry. They have spent a week in chaos and their "mentor" teacher came by on Thursday afternoon after school and said "Everything going okay?" and left after 2 minutes. "Well gotta go." Actually my mentor teacher forgot to ever come by. Never met her. I was just in the room alone, everyday, struggling.

The cool thing about the school system is that they give no raises until you are in your fourth year. That means that fifty percent of all teachers only make the lowest salary on the schedule. What does it take to get that raise over 30K? First you put in 1000 days.

Years ago when I did not teach, I had some friends who were bitter older teachers. They talked to me in such negative terms about their students and their administrators all the time. I didn't want to be their age and be angry all the time like they seemed to be.

Well I'm their age and I see where the bitterness comes from. It is equal parts state legislature, county office, local administrators, uninspired students, and irate parents. The reward? Hey I've been teaching 10 years now. I make the big bucks. And there are the inspired students.

Karl (LSU), Bryan (LSU), Anne (UTenn), Lauren I. (GA So), Diana (GSU), Lauren W. (LSU), Deidra (So Miss), Elizabeth C. (Mercer), Kaitlyn (GSU), Amber (LSU), Kristy (LSU), Laura S. (GA Col), Emily R. (LSU), Danielle (GA Col), Pedro (GA So), Kelechekwu* (MTSU), Shawn (GA So), Ashleigh* (Mercer, Texas Tech), Sarah* (GA So), Emily M.* (West GA), Talia* (LSU), Elizabeth D.* (LSU), Bethany* (Berry), and Michelle* (UGA)--all either holding their bachelor of music degrees* or working on them. Composers, conductors, professional opera singers, professional musical theater performers, music teachers. Everyone who went to LSU went on full scholarship! Wow! Most of the others have some scholarships as well.

And so I continue to teach. For now there are others depending on me. Ellen, Craig, Carli, Morgan H., Morgan S., Grant, Laura, Samantha, Garrett, Kelsey, Jenny, Nicole, Whitney, . . .