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If a teacher needs to have copies made for her/his class, is she/he incompetent? Why should the matter of incompetence even surface? Yet this has been the case at many of the schools where I have taught. Consider this: A school for whatever reason did not have any copy paper and advised teachers in a subtle way to have the students bring in reams of paper or purchase it themselves out of their own pockets. Neither option was viable and bordering on illegal when it came to begging from students. When this matter was questioned in a faculty meeting, the administrator used the analogy, "If you throw a stone at a pack of dogs" trying to poke fun at the issue of particular teachers needing things. Dogs, no less! All of this over the need for paper in the classroom.

The need for paper and other supplies magnify the passive position teachers often take on most issues in order to maintain professionalism and not offend anyone. The need for copies and other supplies pertinent to teaching should make a teacher stand up and say, "No more! I am a professional!" How many office buildings do you enter and they hand you a tray of mud or shaving cream and say fill out this application with this? How many car dealers put the application on the overhead and tell you to copy it down and fill it in? Realistically, the simple matter of copy paper in the classroom emphasizes the fact that many people think teachers are larger than life and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This simply is not true. Sure teacher training is necessary, especially assertiveness training, but first things first, please!

Learn more about this author, Barbara Barbin.
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