a very hateful, very cowardly comment.

The other day I received a comment that actually made me cry. I opened my email, read it, re-read it to make sure I'd read it correctly the first time, then I cried. Boyfriend head couldn't figure out what made me so upset. All I could do was point at the screen and cry when he asked me.

This is what had upset me so much: *Link to original post*

Concerned - said...

I'M AMAZED -- BUT MORE ASHAMED OF YOU TEACHERS. YOU SHOULD ALL QUIT TEACHING -- BECAUSE IT'S YOUR LOUSY BITCHING ATTITUDES THAT COME SHINING THROUGH TO OUR CHILDREN. THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE PARENTS... IT'S THE TEACHERS -- MOST OF THEM DON'T HAVE THE PATIENCE OR KINDNESS NEEDED FOR CHILDREN... AND SHOULD PICK ANOTHER INDUSTRY. **EVERY TIME** A TEACHER BITCHES ABOUT STUDENTS AND PARENTS... SHOWS JUST WHAT KIND OF PERSON THEY REALLY ARE... GROW UP -- YOUR WORSE THAN THE CHILDREN AND THE PARENTS YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT.

I couldn't believe anyone could write something that hateful. Once I got over the initial shock, I was angry. I wanted to know who could be mean-spirited enough to say something like that. I went straight to my sitemeter. Obviously it couldn't tell me who this person was, but I do know that s/he found my blog by searching "bad teacher blog" on Google. But because of the anonimity of the internet, this is all I know.

I think if someone feels this strongly about something, the s/he would at least sign a name...leave an email address? Something to allow me to respond to his/her allegations. So, I'm doing it in the only way I can...Right here:

Dear Hateful, Cowardly Commentor,

• I think just about everyone at some point or another complains about his/her job. Teachers are human, too. We have our bad days the same as anyone else, and I think we deserve to complain occasionally. Teenagers and their parents aren't the easiest to deal with sometimes. I apologize if this offends you, but my advice then is don't read my blog...or any others that may offend you.
• I love my job. Yes, it is at times overwhelming, and the parent/teacher conferences I had were a nightmare...but I wouldn't give up my job for anything. I love working with my kids. My students tell me how much they appreciate my positive attitude and my smiles, so I'm pretty sure my "lousy bitching attitude" isn't shining through to anyone except for possibly the rude parents I was referring to in my blog post...and to be honest, with some of them, I hope it did...because their rude, disrespectful, condescending attitude came shining through to me.
• If you think you have enough "patience and kindness" to be an effective teacher, then go ahead. We need more teachers who possess those qualities, and despite what you may think, those are two things we have in abundance in my classroom.
• If you were referring to the other teachers who'd commented on that particular post, then shame on you for using my blog as a place to insult my visitors.
  
• If you were attempting to make a point, it was lost on me. What I gathered from what you wrote is that you're a hateful person who has entirely too much time on your hands. If you'd like me to take your opinion seriously, then I suggest you be less insulting and actually attempt to say something...because all I see in that comment is nastiness, and why should anyone take someone so nasty seriously?
  
• The next time you want to post a nasty comment on my blog, do two things for me, please: 1.) Grow some balls and leave some sort of identification (name, email, etc.)--pardon my crudeness. and 2.) When commenting on an English teacher's blog, at least attempt to show some sort of grasp of grammar and mechanics. As I tell my students, it's very difficult to take someone's opinion seriously when it's riddled with grammatical and syntactical errors.
  

Thanks,
AT