Teaching is a Challenging Job
We homeschool. That makes it relatively easy to tailor our kids’ educations to their needs. But schoolteachers? Their job is much more challenging. They have to work within the confines of a not-always-so-well-designed system (it is the government, after all; when have they been known for efficiency and common sense?), on a specified timetable, with 20-40 students at a time, and often with limited resources at their disposal.* What’s truly amazing is that the really good ones still manage to make every student feel special, and draw out his own innate strengths.
I was only in public school through fifth grade, myself, and I don’t remember any single teacher who especially stands out. But I do remember almost all of my teachers – and the teachers of nearby classrooms with whom I was acquainted – in a positive light. This is saying something, since I was not an easy student! I was easy enough to like, I guess, but definitely the type of student who could – and, I’m sure, did – try a teacher’s patience. So thank you to all of you for not losing patience with me, and allowing/enabling school to be a generally positive experience.
Teachers Influence Greatly
My husband had one teacher in particular, though, who made a notable difference to him. Enough so that he has talked about her on multiple occasions since our marriage. As I understand it, there wasn’t one stand-out event or something; her ongoing manner and attitude toward him had an impact.
As a child, he loved to write. Stories. He has a great imagination for stories even now, so I can imagine that as a child, the sky was (not even) the limit. He even claimed that when he grew up, he wanted to be a writer. But somewhere along the way, that love of writing was squashed. Certain assignments sucked all the life out of it, I guess, and writing was no longer fun.
Then he entered seventh grade, and encountered Mrs. Erickson. (I hope I’m spelling your name right, Mrs. Erickson, because I’ve only ever heard it; I haven’t seen it.) She blessed him by encouraging his story-writing. She let him know that his writing had promise, so he once again felt excited about writing.
As is usually the case, this blessing has had farther-reaching effects than just Michael himself. He still writes. (I wish he’d finish getting those stories of his down on paper, because they’re really good!) But he’s also passed that love of writing on to our daughters. Ariel, especially, loves to write, and spends hours pouring stories out of her imagination onto paper (or the computer screen). Although some of her love for story generation is innate, I’m confident that much of her continued enthusiasm has been “caught” from her daddy.
Teachers Can Use Our Support
I’ll be honest: I wish every child could be homeschooled. There’s nothing like the bonds you can develop within your family, nothing like getting to be that influential teacher who changes your child’s life. But the reality is, it’s not gonna happen. And Teachers do Change Lives. Office Depot went around the country seeking out teachers who go above and beyond. Like this guy:
You can donate to Mr. Vixie’s classroom (in the video), or other innovative teachers featured by Office Depot. Or you can donate to a locate classroom.
Regardless, please consider taking the time to thank a teacher who has made a difference in your life, or the life of someone close to you.
*Yes, these are all generalizations. I’m aware there are exceptions, like for some special-needs classrooms, where teacher/student ratio is different. But spelling that all out would be very unwieldy – and unnecessary – for this post!
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