Why I should not (or should) be a public school teacher

On Thursday I filled in for a third grade teacher who had to leave school early for a doctor's appointment. Everyone knows that substitute teacher means that you get to act differently than you would if Ms. Real Teacher was in the room. I told myself what to expect that afternoon, especially since it was the end of the day and third graders get hyper during those hours. To my surprise, they weren't that bad. They had to take a science test, which meant complete silence, and then we finished doing class presentations on Simple Machines. We all moved to the carpeted book corner for a comfortable setting and each presenter stood in the front and center of our clump. 

The class had it's drama queens and incredibly obnoxious ADHD boys, but I let most of it slide since the presentations were fun and light-hearted. After each presentation I would stand back up and thank the student presenter, choose the next one, and then help them get situated. So while the next kid was setting up her project things began to get a little more hectic and I got a little more disturbed. The whiny girl of the class -with large glasses on -was sitting in the front row at a diagonal from me and the student presenting - therefore I was temporarily in her line of view. She whines loudly, "I CAN'T SEE!!!!" My quick, snappy voiced response was, "Well maybe you should get better....!" and I thought to myself, adults must NOT tell children to get better glasses. So I simply said, "Nevermind." THEN!!!! The Boy behind her says, "Can you move?! I can't see the project!" Again I snap back, "Do you honestly think that I am going to stand right here when she begins her presentation??? How many times I have I stood in front of our presenters today, huh?" He replies, "Oh....ok." That being said, the final presenter began her speech and I sat myself down behind the kids to quietly listen.

Boy oh boy.  Is that how I would be if I was a teacher? I think I'll start looking for another job this summer.