Monday, May 14, 2012

For those of you who have read Tuesdays With Morrie, you understand the impact a teacher can have in the life of a person.  You also understand how a student can impact the life of a teacher.

So, let's take Teacher Appreciation Week to a new level; let's appreciate teachers for who they are and what they do.  As students, parents, and community members, let's understand the value of appreciation.  We all know it, crave it, and share it. 

I appreciate Cohen's insight into teacher appreciation.  It's more than getting a mug, a chocolate flower, or a card.  It's about the child's hug that comes with that mug, the love that was involved in picking out the right flower, and the parent's heartfelt message in the card thanking the teacher for taking such care with their child.

Let's make this expression of appreciation a commonality.  Not only will we foster happier teachers, but we'll grow our own hearts.  Studies of high performing countries shows that they value their teachers more than any other profession.  They foster their growth, development, and confidence by supporting them.  Cohen offers simple suggestions of showing ongoing teacher appreciation.  In case you don't read the entire article, I'm putting his words below.  Try it out today with a teacher in your life.  Until then, be kind to one another.  Appreciate one another.

The following is taken from:
Unpacking the Meaning of Appreciation
May 9, 2012
  • No more jokes about finishing our work at 3:00 and having summers off.  We work more hours per year than most people, and for less pay than similarly educated and trained professionals.  Over the years, my second shift of teaching-related work typically has started at 9:00 p.m., and it’s not unusual to send work-related emails close to midnight and get a response from a colleague that night, or before 8:00 a.m.  (Note – I actually think that’s a weakness rather than a virtue, but I’m looking for appreciation in the sense of understanding, not gratitude).
  • No more missionary or martyr complexes.  Yes, we care about the future and the children.  But if accountability is a term that means anything in education, it must be reciprocated.  If teachers are accountable, so is the public.  Give us the resources to do the job you expect (or maybe you already do – which would be a rather inconvenient truth).  Appreciate that we cannot build and sustain the profession, or the education system, if we demand excessive sacrifices of our dedicated and energetic teachers, young or old or in between.  It makes a great narrative for a while, until the teacher burns out, moves on, or ends up divorced.
  • No more generalizations about our failing schools.  Appreciate the complexity of the situation: while there’s much work to be done in modernizing and improving schools, simplifications make our work harder.  Failing schools are not so easy to recognize, especially from the outside.  To the extent that we attach labels and then begin ranking schools, we fail to appreciate the differences among schools, the strengths of “failing” schools and the weaknesses of our “best” schools.  The label “failing” is becoming increasingly empty of meaning as No Child Left Behind limps onwards despite its flaws.  Teachers who work in “failing” schools are unfairly stigmatized for problems mostly beyond their control, and teacher turnover becomes a cycle that harms students and is hard to break.

Read Cohen's article HERE.