Dear editor,I love being a teacher. It was my calling and I am passionate about it.I love the sparkle in my students鈥� eyes as they learn something new. I honour the growth and journey that each of my students takes while in my classroom for 10 months.I believe I have great relationships with parents, letting them know that I know their child as an individual and will help them move them forward in their learning. I love sharing my classroom with parent volunteers and believe that parents are an integral part of the education process.I love sending impromptu notes or e-mails home letting parents know the success their child achieved while at school that day. While in my care, I treat each and every child with respect, as I would my own child. Luckily, there are still many more things that I love about being a teacher than I hate, although it is becoming a close race.I hate telling a parent that the school/district doesn鈥檛 have enough manpower for their child to get Learning Assistance, Speech and Language Support and Occupational Therapy, even though they need it and research says that early intervention is key to student success.I hate telling parents that I understand that their child received full-time support in pre-school with a ratio of one teacher to 10 students, but they don鈥檛 qualify for support two months later because of the ministry guidelines and there will be one teacher for 22 students (kindergarten).I hate watching my students struggle, knowing that I am doing the best that I can, yet it isn鈥檛 enough for their child to be successful.I hate taking away learning time from students who are ready and eager to learn, because I need to deal with the struggles of students who don鈥檛 receive the assistance that they need to be successful.I hate listening to parents who say their child doesn鈥檛 like school or are scared to come to school because of students who are disruptive to their learning and may also hurt them physically.I hate spending thousands of my own dollars each year on professional development and learning resources that I need to be the best teacher that I can be.I love the diversity of my students. I love when they can get the support they need to be successful in the classroom. I love when I can equally meet the needs of all my students. I love honouring the individuality of each student and celebrating all that they have to offer our society.To Christy Clark and George Abbott, can you please be truthful with the public and let them know that the reason you are stripping teachers' contracts is because you do not value children or the job that teachers do?You at least owe us that. Our future is at stake.Lisa Pedersen-SkeneEditor's note: Lisa Pedersen-Skene is a kindergarten teacher at Huband Elementary School.
