Teddy James

AFA Journal staff writer

July/August 2014 – Dear teachers,
It is August again and you know what that means. For the next 10 months:

You will share your love of learning with students who think you are strange for enjoying what they consider boring. But your passion will rub off on them.

You will not settle for work that is “good enough.” You will have the courage to refuse acceptance of any work until it is the best a student can deliver.

You will make students do work that is “too hard,” “too boring” and “irrelevant.” But you know they will actually use it one day.

You will continue your education, often out of your own pocket. Even though continuing education  units aren’t always enjoyable, you know you will always love being a student.

You will teach life skills that will never be measured on a test and that you really don’t have time to teach according to your lesson plans. But you will make time because you know it will result in productive, successful adults.

You will teach students to think critically and to find the best questions to get the best answers. You will refuse to have a classroom of robots who only repeat what you write on the board. You want a classroom of thinkers.

You will stay up all night grading papers your students stayed up all night writing.

You will spend your personal money on classroom decorations, experiments, crafts and hands-on learning experiences. 

You will secretly buy some students’ lunches because you know it may be the only good meal they eat that day.

You will use the large-enough-to-fit-any-student clothes you bought during the summer because someone will have an accident, and you will be the secret hero by keeping them from being embarrassed.

You will spend your personal time at home researching new ways to help a student who is struggling with understanding a concept.

You will sacrifice time with your own family because a student asked you to come watch them play in the big game.

You will see the people your students are capable of becoming, and you will encourage and guide them in growing to be those people. You will also cover each one in prayer as they grow this year.

You will experience more discouragement than any student or parent will ever understand. You will deal with more red tape than most people know exists. You will teach through sickness, fatigue and pressure from the system. You will experience anger from parents over policies you have no control over. 

You will be a mom, a dad, a counselor, a disciplinarian, an encourager. To put that succinctly, you will be a teacher, and you will rarely if ever be thanked for it. We want to say, “Thank you.”  

PARENTS …
This school year, take a moment to write a letter to your child’s teacher(s) introducing yourself and your child and expressing your enthusiasm for the upcoming school year.  Beginning a new parent-teacher relationship on the right foot sets a positive tone for the rest of the school year.

Encourage your older children to write a letter of appreciation to their former teachers. Find their contact information through the school directory or social media.