The more things change, the more they stay the same!

I saw this post in another online teaching community and thought to myself, "wow!" This is from 1935, you know, back in the good old days when teaching was supposed to be "easy."

As most of us return to the classroom, it's important to remember why we do what we do and to also remember, teaching has never (nor will it ever) been easy!

This is from The First Year of Teaching: Real World Stories From America's Teachers, paragraphs written by Albert S. Thompson in 1935:

"I guess I don't need to say that teaching is a unique profession. It has its periods of elation and depression. Some days you will wonder how you stand it. Other days you will feel there is nothing so satisfying. Monday, you will be full of enthusiasm and plans for the future. Friday, you will look back and wonder just what you have accomplished. One period you will consider yourself a born teacher. Next period you will bewail the fate that gave you such a job. Wednesday, you will discover that John Jones has finally learned how to divide fractions. Thursday, he will seem to have forgotten everything. One week you will feel that the superintendent thinks you are the best teacher on the faculty. The next week you will be sure he is looking for an excuse to fire you. One month you will decide that at last you have arrived at a satisfactory philosophy of education. The next month you will look at the pupils coming into the room and wonder, What is it all for? Some days will be a month in passing. Some months will be a day in passing.

But, when the end of the year has arrived, the innumerable reports made out, good-byes said to your pupils and fellow teachers, and you are looking forward to an enjoyable summer vacation, you will smile at your mistakes, be amused at your doubts, be content with your appointed task, and once again be full of plans and enthusiasms for the next year."