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It's been a long school year.  But I can tell that I'm moving beyond the personal and career frustrations that dogged me for much of 2011-12.  Recently, I've started to re-think my mood for school and it dawned on me the privileged nature of what I do.  I teach in a school where students largely behave.  I teach students who are literate, intelligent, and generally well-mannered.  I have a paycheck that I receive consistently.  I have colleagues who are intelligent and good-willed.  It's a privilege to teach in such a setting. 

I'm reminded of how older men and women, when talking about the good old days of the Greatest Generation, discuss how work was considered a privilege.  I think it's helpful for more of us to look at our occupations in that way. 

Now, if I could just extend that philosophy to my students.  Today was the Monday following the senior prom.  Attendance: 42.2% in my classes. And that 42% includes an AP class where more than half the kids were present.  My two academic classes: only a 30% attendance. 

So, let me offer this point of view to my students (and their parents who condoned their absences):

• Though attendance is supposedly compulsory in the U.S., going to school is a privilege many kids in the world do not get. 
• You get the privilege of coming to a school where your safety is not threatened.
• You have teachers who are trained, talented, intelligent, and kind-hearted. 
• You are in one of the highest-achieving schools in the state, the region, and the country. 

Millions upon millions of children would give anything to have the educational experience you have by right of birth, citizenship, and residency.   If these millions knew that you had blown off this day, they would likely laugh at, scorn, or resent you.