High Maintenance

10.27.10 By Neema Avashia

This past weekend my principal described me has a “high-maintenance” teacher, in the same sentence where he described himself as being high-maintenance as well. His theory was that part of the reason we’re able to work well together is because we both demand a lot of others, but more importantly, demand a lot from ourselves. It was the first time anyone has characterized me in that manner out loud, but the definition totally clicked, and helped me to realize why I’ve struggled so much as a teacher over the past 8 years in terms of the world outside my classroom, and why I’m so much happier in my school this year than I have been in any year prior.

I AM high maintenance. I have been ever since I was a kid, and more so in my teaching life. During BTR, I made such a fuss about the lack of relevance and depth of one of the classes that Jesse told me to go home, and not come back ‘til the class was done (don’t get any ideas, Residents!). When I was first being hired, I refused to work in any school that didn’t also hire my friend and fellow resident Bob to teach on the same team with me. People told us we were crazy, but we made it happen, and I wouldn’t be the teacher I am today if it weren’t for getting to grow those first 3 years with Bob. During my first year teaching, I sent district-wide assessments back to the district Director of Curriculum and Instruction annotated with all of the spelling and grammar errors, unaligned questions, and incorrect answer choices. In my building now, I’m the first to buzz the office if the heat isn’t on and the building is cold, if garbage hasn’t been taken out, if there are spills on the floor, if hallways are excessively noisy during transitions. My kids know that in Ms. Avashia’s class, you better not play. You also better not come unprepared, or front like you’re not ready to learn. You check foolish at the door and come in ready to be smart and thoughtful and driven, because if you don’t, she’s going to be on you. My kids’ parents know that Ms. Avashia is quick on the phone, quicker on text, and quickest by email, and that if a project isn’t in on time, or a homework log is missing more than a couple of stamps over a two week span, there’s going to be a parent-teacher-child conversation about what it takes to be ready for high school, and what we all need to do between now and June to make that happen.

I drive people CRAZY. I know it, and I refuse to apologize for my obsessively demanding nature. Because the truth is, I think we are living in a moment, in a city, in a system, where there aren’t enough high maintenance people, or, at least, high-maintenance people who have the courage to be loud as well.

Our communities, our students, our families, and our schools deserve a lot more than they are getting at present. Communities deserve to be safe enough that residents don’t have to fear getting shot when going to the corner store at 3 in the afternoon. Kids deserve to have curricula that are relevant, engaging, rigorous, and given to teachers in sufficient time for teachers to actually be able to plan transformational learning experiences. Parents deserve advance notice about school events (advance = at least a month, not a week), translated, transparent information, and respectful treatment when they get there. Schools deserve to be warm in winter, cool in summer, clean, resource-full, and well-maintained. 

These are not unreasonable requests, yet they don’t happen with any kind of consistency in the world that we and our kids live in. And until they do, I’m not going to stop driving people crazy. Instead, I’m going to ask you to turn up your maintenance levels a notch, and to join the ‘high maintenance’ club, if you’re not already a member.