Case Study

At the end of the day, I hope that myself as well as most teachers get into the profession of teaching because we love children, and love to teach. We may get caught up in the fairness of our jobs, what is fair as designated by our union, and what our salary is compared to the time we spend outside the classroom. But in the end, cases like this could not help to shake anyone in this teachers position. We can't blame ourselves for not understanding the situation because sometimes we just don't know. I would think that the most poignant aspect of Carls' case would be remembering to exercise patience and compassion each and every day. And it's true that a large part of your compassion may be wasted on students that are acting out for the sake of attention, but for the one student that it means the world to, it may be worth it in the end.
My concern is how teachers in a high-needs school like that can maintain a level-head working in a district such as that. I've always believed that teachers should take time off after working for 10 years or so, just to refresh and gain a clear perspective of what they are trying to accomplish as teachers. I'm not sure how realistic this theory is, but teaching seems like a job with such a high level of burn-out and teachers that lose passion about their job. This is why the teachers who shine always stand out so much, because somehow they have managed to hold on to the love and passion that they started out with.
Overall, Carl's case is one to be remembered, if not read periodically throughout your teaching career, to help you remember all the things going on that you may not realize when you have 30 students in front of you each day.