On Being Fired from My Job

By Lory Peroff, Hope Street Alumna

“Nerds make the world go round.”

That’s what my mom always told me. And being nerdy is pretty much how a classroom teacher became an “Educational Columnist” for a local online publication. In my free time, I would write my views on education and send them in for consideration. After about a year of submitting letters, a few of which were published in the “Community Voice” section, I was shocked to receive an email from the editor asking me to write a regular education column. I was thrilled that this publication valued education enough to showcase an authentic “from the trenches perspective” of a currently employed teacher.

Being a currently employed teacher, I thought this would be easy. And it was. I was elated to actually get paid to reflect and write about education, teaching, and my students. I wrote about the things that were important to myself and many of my colleagues like social emotional learning, art, parent involvement, community partnerships, and the amazingness of teachers. I painted a detailed picture of what learning looked like in my classroom. I talked with colleagues and shared their voices and stories as well. I illuminated bright spots that I saw happening in our classrooms. I shared challenges teachers face too.