Odd Name for a Teacher's Blog

So why the name "A Hundred and Fifty Names"? Because all the easy, trite names were already taken, so I was forced to be slightly creative.

Every September, I get around 150 new students (at my non-semestered school). It takes me 3 weeks to memorize all their names. 150 kids to worry about, laugh with, and tear my hair out over. 150 stories and backgrounds.

It is only my 4th year teaching, but I've already had about 600 kids. By the end of my career, I will have had approximately 4,000 kids. (Plus a few hundred extra from the extra-curriculars I help with.) That is a lot of stories.

I'm an English and Geography teacher at a high school somewhere in Toronto. I love my school, even though it does not have the best reputation. I love my job, even though it kills me sometimes. I love my kids, even the ones who drive me up the wall.

I feel really lucky to have fallen into a job like this. A lot of my non-teacher friends have jobs that pay the bills, but give no fulfillment. They come home at 5 and don't think about their jobs until they come in the next morning. (Not all of them mind you, obviously I know many people who do enjoy their jobs.) But I'm happy that I have a job that challenges me every single day. There is literally never a dull day at work.

And while I'm proud of my job, I DETEST those crappy mugs or magnets shaped like apples or chalkboards with lame sayings on them. Like this: Ugh.