Wen I was a kid, elementary school age, I was one of those weird kids who loved school. I mean I LOVED it. It was where I was happiest -- not because of a bad home, but because I was around people and there was always something going on. And it is odd that I loved school so much, because, frankly, I had no friends.
I was the fat kid, so no one wanted to be my friend. The boys picked on me, and it was not because they liked me, and the girls giggled and pointed at me. Not the best, huh? But I loved school anyway.
I could not wait for summer vacations to be over so I could go back. Something about the chalkboards and newsprint prelined paper that I loved. I loved getting my new lists of spelling words every week and seeing where my cubby box would be. Oh the excitement of it all.
What I never thought about was my surroundings, though. How did my classroom get so cool -- who put the books out, who arranged the desks, who made sure there were cubby holes and who labeled them with our names. I never thought about things like who was grading our papers, or when was it being done or how it was determined what I would learn, how I would learn it or when I would learn it and in what order.
Now I am older and I have several friends who are teachers and I see first hand what goes into the start of the school year. It is still about cool school supplies and nifty things that excite me, but there is so much more.
I spent a few hours with Teri at her classroom yesterday putting bulletin boards together, hooking up computers and general getting the classroom ready. Teri will be back there again today and probably tomorrow getting the room set up to give off the right vibe and be as condusive to teaching and learning as possible.
I was amazed at how much work she put into it and will continue to put into it. Now, on one hand, I know Teri is a perfectionist, but on the other hand, it is a lot of work, no matter who you are. Teachers rock. Period, end of story -- Brett Favre is a Diva and Teachers Rock!
It is appaling to me, more and more, how little we pay our teachers and how little education is revered in this country. We have enough money to destroy and rebuild a foreign country, but not pay our teachers an appropriate and competitive salary. Ugh!
If you haev a kid in school, or know a teacher, applaud them, love them and help them. Offer time to help make copies, offer to donate supplies (which teachers pay for themselves!) or offer to help out in the classroom.
I loved school as a kid, but as an adult, I love teachers!
3 comments:
It is so true that teachers get paid so little. They put so much time and effort into shaping the future (because let's be honest there are a ton of absent parents around). They get paid so little but use there own money to make things nice. Thanks for the reminder. =)
I agree with Jennifer - Teachers are sometimes the only shapers of young minds, and that's quite a task (especially considering how little they get paid).
I really loved school when I was a kid too, I remember the night before school started every fall I could NEVER fall asleep, I was so excited!
Let's put it this way: I'm earning the same amount of money I made in 1987 in the corporate world. Everyone talks about paying teacher more, yet every year the money simply isn't there.
What genuinely brings most of us to the classroom every morning is the fact that we know we're shaping future leaders.
We had open house at my high school on Thursday, and many of my seniors came back to say thanks. I can't spend that currency at the store, but it keeps me coming back to a job I truly love.
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