For the last two days, you all have been commenting with stories of teachers who made an impact on your lives. (Facebook post on the Bellingwood page found here). What an extraordinary thing it has been to read through those stories. I found myself with tears in my eyes as I read stories of kindness, love, and generosity.
While a few of you were impacted negatively by a teacher, the overwhelming majority of you focused on those teachers who had touched your life in beautiful and wondrous ways. Two things leaped out at me.
The first was that the teachers who impacted you the most were those who made you (me, us) feel special, unique, and loved.
The second was that overwhelmingly, the one thing teachers gave to you that you’ve never forgotten was a love of reading. There were many other things teachers taught to you that you’ve carried throughout your lives, but reading and a love of the written word was predominant.
My sister is a fifth grade teacher, a job that she loves, no matter how difficult it gets. She read through the comments and told me that she came away inspired to do even better with the kids that she has in her classroom.
I was one of those kids who moved several times when I was in school and there was always a teacher there who was ready to lift me out of obscurity and allow me to shine. Mrs. Hill, my elementary music teacher, was the one whose caring still resounds within me. I was bullied by the cool kids because I was new, I was the preacher’s kid (horrors) and I was a nice girl who was fairly intelligent. But Mrs. Hill sat me at the piano when she needed to walk around the classroom and made me feel special when she asked me to play things that she wanted the class to hear. Other teachers allowed me to help slow readers when I finished my work early.
Until I read through your comments yesterday, it had never occurred to me that those teachers probably made the other children feel just as special and important, giving them different tasks suited to their own talents. Of course they did. That’s what made them such great teachers.
Teachers today are required to focus on content standards which takes up a huge amount of class time, leaving very little time to do extra things – like reading to the kids or teaching them how to knit or allowing them to explore their own curiosities. We don’t have a perfect system by any means, but our teachers still care for the children as those who cared for us did. They will go to great lengths to ensure that the kids have what they need to learn, whether it’s a pencil or a hug.
I do the silliest things for Carol’s classroom. On March 14th, they get Whoopie Pies to celebrate Pi Day. On May 4th, they get Star Wars bookmarks to celebrate May the Fourth Be With You. She’s reading “Wrinkle in Time” to them this year. I am going to do my best to find a way to celebrate that and I figure that once the movie comes out, there will be fun and inexpensive things to access. When I read about a fun book that has just come out for kids, I ask Carol if she could use it in her classroom – or even if it is something that would be fun to put in the school library. At the beginning of each year, I sew up little treat bags that she and I fill with pencils, fun erasers, a bit of candy, and other silly things for each kid. You all are creative – you have your own great ideas.
I can’t encourage you enough to care for the teachers who work in the schools around you. Honor the memory of that teacher who gave you so much by paying it forward to these teachers who hold our future in their hands. When they go home exhausted after a day of dealing with kids who face emotional, mental and physical challenges, imagine how different they would feel knowing there are people out there who support them. Adopt a teacher – adopt a classroom. It doesn’t have to be much, sometimes it’s a kind word or a note of encouragement – a reminder that they are doing something amazing and you are grateful. We all know teachers – don’t wait for them to ask for help – don’t ask them what they need – get creative. It doesn’t have to be huge, it just needs to be.
Teachers impacted your lives – you can impact a teacher’s life. Tell them thank you for doing a job that very few of us could handle.
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Book 19 – Boundless Dreams will be here Monday, September 25th! The email newsletter that arrives in your inbox at six o’clock that morning will have the link and as always, another vignette! I can hardly wait!
