05/02/2023
DID YOU KNOW?
Today (May 2, 2023) is Teacher Appreciation Day!
When we were very young, one person replaced our parents for about 6 hours every weekday, and oh, the power they had! They could make us a star for the day, by recognizing a job well done or a kindness to others. Or they could relegate us to the back of the room to sit in misery to ponder our own acts of negligence or rudeness. Under our watchful gaze we eventually realized that gown ups were as different from one another as we children were different – what a discovery! Besides reading, writing and math they taught us other important life skills. The same rules that our parents tried to impose upon us within our family unit were now enforced amongst relative strangers.
Of course, none of us knows what each new day will bring, especially those of us that work with many different people over the course of a day. Yet still, teachers come every day, armed with their lesson plan and the belief that those young minds, pliable spirits, and self-centered egos will attempt to learn whatever it is that they have to offer. They believe in themselves and more importantly, they believe in our children.
It never once occurred to me that for as much power over me THEY had, we, as a class and even as individuals could alter their day and change how they saw themselves … forever!
My child came home from middle school one day and expressed their disappointment in his class for their treatment of a substitute teacher (a scene from “Lord of the Flies” comes to mind). It wasn’t until then that I realized how vulnerable a teacher could be – as a human being.
Let’s give kudos to those teachers that inspired us to be better people, feel better about ourselves and believed in our capacity to learn, change, and grow.
