on trusting your gut.

I’ve spent my share of teaching/admin years in K-8 schools with weekly riot fights, police officers on payroll, non-drill lockdowns and I even once confiscated a gun from a fourth grader.

Violence in high-poverty schools is no joke, but take into account that several of the settings described here were first-year “turnaround charters,” you can imagine how desperation for new student enrollment plays a powerful role.

First year “turnaround charters” have no room for Picky Pollys. We need kids, kids equal dollars and hey, your kid was “recommended” for expulsion? C’mon in! We’d love to have you!

Reflecting on these earlier years and how my teacher voice has grown, I regret not speaking up more. Working in high poverty schools has always been my choice, and although frequently surprised, I knew that things would be tough. 

Asking for help in these tough situations, unfortunately, was not my strong suit. Neither was speaking up.

I remember the first time a student threw a desk across my classroom. Escorting twenty-five students to safety is quite an unnerving task as a rookie. We’re trained to remove the students from the classroom, call for assistance and wait for crisis- intervention certified colleagues to help deescalate or restrain the upset child.

Like other situations in years to follow, this was not an isolated incident. With lack of intensive counseling/psychological support services in some school communities, kids often get help, but not necessarily the long-term help they need.

Or they just transfer to the next new “turnaround charter” up the street.

As teachers, and non-experts in child psychology and psychiatry, we often put our trust in school support services and administrators to take necessary steps to keep all kids safe, especially with the big stuff.

We all have the best intentions, but too many times, I’ve felt unsafe at work. This is not the fault of administrators or anyone else, it just happened that way. So over time, I changed my approach to it all.

I stopped breaking up fights, started calling out parents to their faces and became ultra-sensitive to students triggers- sometimes to the point where I let a child sleep in my class, just so not to poke the bear. 

This is real talk, teachers. Forgive me for sounding insensitive, but now on my second pregnancy, I make my voice well heard in these situations.

Even though I (usually) end up loving the emotionally distraught child/children in my class more than any other, safety comes first. It’s not only about love, it’s about safety.

When I speak up now, I’m not just advocating for my unborn child, but I’m standing up for the twenty-nine other scared students...some of which are already on edge due to chaotic home situations.

Taking the proactive approach has proven to be most effective these days. Once I sense a trigger, or catch the invisible steam pouring from a child’s ears, or even read some seriously aggressive body language-I call for assistance.

Waiting for the crap to hit the fan does no one any good, and if I’m questioned or challenged about the student or students needing to be removed from class, then I push harder.

Understandably, as a more seasoned teacher, administrators and behavior interventionists probably trust me now more than they would’ve fourteen years ago. Trust or not though, I wish I would’ve pushed harder when I was younger. I might’ve prevented a whole lot of situations from escalating to physical aggression.

Effectively picking your battles is no easy task. Teachers question their own judgement probably every four minutes, so the best we can do is go with our guts.

As long as we keep ourselves in check about the fine line between standing up for things and whining all of the time, then I think there’s nothing wrong with being a squeaky wheel about stuff that matters.

The decision makers and leadership team juggle just as much as we do...sometimes they need to hear voices from teachers like you and me to refresh their memories about life in the classroom. We know our kids, we know their triggers, and we aren’t just teachers, we are their first line of safety each school day.

So these days, I’m following my gut more. I speak up on the important things and if I’m not heard, I professionally push harder in the name of student safety and high quality teaching and learning.

And if the outcome doesn’t change, after all of the pushing...at least I know I tried. Power to the teacher!