My Reasons to Thank Teachers

This week is National Educator Appreciation Week. There are some discounts and sales going on and #thankateacher hashtags across social media. I also decided to jump on the band wagon to thank those who inspire learning. By default I have been surrounded by teachers my whole life through school and through family. My mother, father, grandmother, 2 aunts, uncle, brother-in-law and friends all went into teaching. When choosing a career path my mother often tried to steer me away from teaching, I never understood it until this year when I subbed in a classroom teaching health lessons. Here are the 6 things that I learned when subbing and why I feel indebted to all educators.

1. Teachers have 35 min. to prep yet will have 36 things to get done .

They include things such as grading papers, calling parents, writing emails, collaborating with your teaching team, making copies, reviewing/planning for what you are teaching, finding ways to use technology in the classroom and creating activities, power points or running interventions in your classroom. There are often too many. This is why teachers feel the need to bring things home to make it perfect for the next day. There are literally not enough hours in the day.

2. Teachers have to bring their A+++ game.

If you do not know your content, you will have too many pauses, which leads to boredom which leads to behaviors in the students such as entertaining themselves with their phones/ipads or by whispering, giggling and being off task or worse. Teachers have to keep students engaged/on task for 6 hours a day. It is a great feat indeed.

3. Teachers know to expect the unexpected.

The health lesson I was teaching had to do with breakfast, but by the end of the day, I had a puker, a bleeder and one student fall asleep. That was only one day :).

4.  Teachers know, it's like having an infant or 30 of them.

When you are a classroom teacher, you can't just leave. You have to present material for several hours of your 6 directly with students. Your personal needs such as using the restroom or eating lunch takes a back seat to whatever is going on in the hall or in your class. Not just sometimes but constantly.

5. Teachers have to build trust and it takes time.

When stepping into someone else's room or roll I didn't always know what was going on in a students lives. Building a trust with the students is key to keep them learning all year even when tasks are boring or mundane ( like completing 20 of the same math problem). The great teachers I know find ways to get to know their students so they can build a trust. It takes time and energy, but they do it.

6. Teachers understand pain.

My whole body hurt. You heard it. Teaching took a lot of standing, talking, thinking and listening. At the end of my health day teaching I felt like I was hit by a truck of sorts. Perhaps it was me finally wrapping my mind around what teaching actually entails and entertaining the idea that my mother was very right. Teaching is HARD and not for the weak.

So go and THANK a teacher. Thank several. They deserve every perk this week that is given. I could not do what they do everyday.