I happened to meet my future travel buddy and one of the funniest, most jaded teachers ever in the form of Mr. Hoffman.
Being my first year of teaching, I was idealistic and optimistic about teaching. I quickly learned how jaded all the teachers once I set foot into Cram Middle School. Being my next door neighbor, Hoffman helped me deal with ratchet students, helped me through tough times when I broke down, and helped me with “coaching” the soccer team. Not really though. Although he claims to not care, I know deep down inside he still does. It’s hard though dealing with administrative BS and dealing with behavioral issues getting worse and worse, but he has a special quality that allows him to build rapport with students.
It’s clear that when he started teaching, he did things for his students. It’s very obvious how good he was based on the fact that many of them still communicate with him on a daily basis. I can see how great of a father he is based on the way he treats his sons and daughter. How sweet.
As much as I miss him and the history department from Cram, I will never miss that ratchet school. Especially since my flash drive got stolen from a student and the administration said “keep a spare one next time”. BS.
He is a great travel and tour guide as well, making my first trip out of the states a great one.
Here’s hoping he still inspires many to love geography and history in the future.
