The EdVocate West

Appreciating Our Teachers

May 9, 2012 at 6:16 pm arunramanathan Leave a comment

Every morning that I drop my daughters off at school I place their futures in the hands of two teachers. My youngest stands in line outside the kindergarten classroom and when the teacher walks down the hall, her face lights up with a smile. When she comes home, she tells me what she learned in school with a level of excitement that can only be experienced by adults second-hand through the voice of a child. My oldest is less excitable but just as excited about learning. She calls her teacher, “Teacher” in a reverential old-fashioned sort of way – the kind of reverence you can only experience as an adult second-hand, through the eyes of a child.

When I was a teacher I saw children from only one angle. My view was from inside a school, looking out. Now, as a parent, I see my children’s teachers and I’m on the outside looking in. For the first time, I understand a teacher’s true impact. Every day in school opens up new possibilities. When a child starts to read, it’s magical. When you see them applying lessons from school into aspects of every day life, you get confused and wonder, “Where did they learn that?” Then you remember it’s no longer all up to you. They have a teacher.

So this Teacher Appreciation Week my level of appreciation has reached a whole new level: one of a parent who has now begun to understand the extraordinary impact of teachers on the two little people I love the most. With this new perspective, I extend my sincere gratitude to all of our teachers for the work they do every day to transform our children’s – and our – lives.

Join the Education Trust—West in appreciating California teachers this week by doing any of the following:

• Share a story about a teacher who supported you or share your thoughts about which qualities you think great teachers embody.
• Write a thank you to a teacher letting him or her know how much you value the important contributions s/he has made in your life.
• Contact your neighborhood school about volunteer opportunities that allow you to “give back”. While not everyone can volunteer during the workday, there are events after business hours or on the weekends that would benefit from your time and effort.
• If you are a parent or guardian, talk with your child about the ways in which they are grateful for their teacher(s) and ask them how they might tell them.

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