#ToolboxTuesday highlights a variety of intriguing resources for educators and beyond in support of our ongoing journey towards a more mindful, trauma-informed practice. Resources centre the dismantling of anti-oppression, and come in many different forms: novels, articles, teaching resources, and so on. If you have a resource to share, send us an email!
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How many times have you witnessed some bull throughout your journey as an educator and had some choice NSFW words for it?
Have you ever wished there could be a platform where all of the absurdity can be put on display with alarm AND humour so that those who don’t work in the system can understand?
Enter Teacher Misery.
Three best-selling self-published books of miseries plus annual teacher planners, all stuffed full of humour and no-bs insights into what it’s like to be a teacher these days. We don’t get any commission from linking them. They’re just so good, we had to share. Check them out at https://www.teachermisery.com!
This is a classic meme right here:
Now, let’s call a spade a spade. Obviously this is a major departure from the kind of resources that have been shared in our network thus far. What does this satirical IG account about the miseries of teaching have to do with anti-oppression? What does this have to do with being trauma-informed and mindful?
Well. Everything, really.
Aren’t so many of the unrealistic expectations placed on the shoulders of educators a direct result of everything to do with systemic issues in society at large? Consider all of the things: poverty, classism, racism, sexism, queer phobia, etc. We aren’t just charged with teaching curriculum; we’re charged with raising children who come with trauma. We’re charged with raising children who come from a home that isn’t safe for them. Who cares about calculus if the kid doesn’t have lunch that day? And we’re charged with doing all of it while spending our own money for basic resources and giving free labour in order to just function in our jobs.
Not to mention that in Ontario, we’re about to head into another round of contract negotiations, and my God – just wait for the blatant disparaging of teachers in order to justify the defunding of public education. Raise your hand if this has happened to you. Yes? You too? Yup.
It’s completely asinine.
So don’t we have the right to find community and laugh about it so that we don’t lose our minds?
And thus, once again, I introduce to you Teacher Misery, where gems like this and this are in abundance. Don’t forget their books too, which can be found at www.teachermisery.com!
Enjoy. Maybe cry a little at how ridiculously common these issues are. And then give yourself a hug, on behalf of the entire Teacher Misery community.
Because we’re all part of this garbage system, fighting for it to be better, together.
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❤
Ms Karen Au 