On my Soapbox-Regarding Teachers
I’m not a teacher, never have been a teacher, don’t have teacher friends. I do however, have a daughter, my one and only daughter, who is a teacher. She’s a kindergarten teacher working half time right now since the birth of her son who is now almost three. By half time I mean she has one kindergarten class a day, half a day, instead of two, but still five days a week.
My daughter has always been one to work hard, strive to do and be her best. She’s an awesome teacher, very caring, always trying to find ways to make education interesting and always trying to make sure the kids enjoy learning. Her half time teaching makes me chuckle sometime because most days she leaves for school by 11:20 and stays until at least 5 pm, most times later, to get things ready in her classroom for the next day. She lives about 100 miles from me, and every time she comes to visit she comes with papers and laptop and art projects that I help her with. This past weekend when she came to visit I organized a LOT of papers into folders for her parent/teacher conferences which were held two days this week, I also cut out some teddy bear shapes for her.
Where am I going with this you might ask.
Today someone said to me that teachers earn too much! If you are a teacher, you know how ridiculous this comment is. This person also said that “they get the entire summer off after all”. Apparently this person has no clue what a teacher is or what a teacher does. I can only tell you first hand what I know as the mom of a kindergarten teacher, and of course this may be totally different for other teachers, however, I have a feeling the story is similar for dedicated teachers all over the country.
First there’s college. Student loans, lots of long hours and a hard curriculum. Then you are lucky if you can get hired in an area that is hiring as there has been a lot of cuts in our school’s education system in case you have not noticed.
My daughter spent hours upon hours getting her kindergarten classroom ready for the children. The classroom does not come all set up with all the toys, dressup center, books, craft centers, story circle, art area, etc. that you see when you walk into the room. She made curtains for the puppet theater, for all the windows in the classroom, she spent her own money on SO many of the things in the room. For years and years before she was even out of college she was buying books from book stores and second hand shops and garage sales for her classroom library. She picks up snowpants and extra mittens for the kids who don’t come to school prepared for the tough winter. She buys markers and cute stickers and letter charts and posters and birthday badges and postcards and paper to send notes home to parents and videos and audio tapes and workbooks and holiday decorations and things to make cookies with the kids for Halloween and seriously, this list could just go on, and on, and on. She purchases all this stuff for the kids with her own money! Sure, she gets a bit of money at the beginning of the school year for the classroom, and some is saved for perhaps an outing at the museum and some spent on new things for the classroom, but that money is gone in a flash, and from there anything she gets is out of her pocket. I’m going to estimate she easily spends $4,000 on her classroom items each year. I’m certain there are a lot of teachers who do the same, some probably spend less, some spending more. I’ve been to the teacher store with her and these things she gets for her classroom…the name plate tags, the cute wall trim, etc, are not cheap!
That’s just a part of it though…the money she spends. She also spends an enormous amount of time outside the classroom on classroom things. I have to say, as a parent of two, I never appreciated what a teacher does the way I should have. I am guilty of that! My daughter realizes that now and asked me one day “why” I never really appreciated what teachers do. I’m not saying I didnt’ appreciate them and what they do, I just never really thought about it. That’s really bizarre, but I think that probably holds true for many parents. We send our children off to school each day and let’s face it folks, they spend a huge part of their childhood in school, and yet, how much do we really stop to think about their teachers? Have you ever looked at your child’s art project and asked yourself…who purchased the items to make it? Who got all the supplies together for it? Who cut out all the little pieces for it? How about their book order. Did you ever stop to think how long it might take a teacher to separate all the books and put them safely into your child’s backpack? Did you ever wonder how they can test 24 students individually for a progress report (that’s not even required of them to do!) and still teach the other students at the same time? Did you ever realize that your child’s teacher might not be able to fall asleep at night because she suspects your child has a learning disability and it’s heartbreaking for her knowing how this will affect his life and yours? Did you ever look at the cute bulletin board out in the hallway full of cute tissue paper autumn trees and leaves and think about how long it took the teacher to get all the supplies together for that project, the money they may have spent to make it, and the time to put together the bulletin board. Did you ever stop to think the teacher missed her lunch hour four out of five days because a parent popped in on her during her lunch hour or phoned her to discuss their concerns about something? Did you know she doesn’t get paid any more for it? Did you know that your child’s teacher attends conferences and meetings and they probably get nothing extra for doing it. You dont’ really think that teachers get paid for the hours they put in at home stapling, stamping, grading, getting lesson plans ready, etc. did you? They don’t!
There are some great parents out there, the kind I wish I had been when my kids were in school. Dont’ get me wrong, I always gave treats for Halloween parties and a little something for the teacher at Christmas, but really, if I had known what I know now, I would have shown so much…SO MUCH more appreciation than what I did. To the parents who volunteer their time to go into the classroom and read or work on centers…I salute you! To the parent who brings the teacher a loaf of home made banana bread with a little note saying “thank you for all you do”…I salute you! To the parent who gives the teacher a nice gift at the holidays or end of the year gift to show your appreciation…I salute you! To the parent who “understands” what a teacher is, and what a teacher does…I am so proud of you!
I always find myself dumbfounded and at a loss for words when I hear someone say that teachers have it easy, that they “have the entire summer off” after all. There is so much I would like to point out to them, first,the fact that teachers pay is really so ridiculously low for what they do. But it’s not even just about pay. It’s about respect. Respecting what your child’s teacher does for her, respecting this person who is such a huge influence in your child’s life, who does so much to see that your child is not only educated, but safe, and happy, and whole. Teachers deserve to be applauded. They are a dedicated bunch who deserve so much more appreciation than what they get.
I can only hope that by writing this, any parent reading it will stop for just a few minutes and really THINK about their child’s teacher. Think about all the papers, the projects, the things they do while at school, the way the room is set up, the field trips and snacks given when your child forgets his snack…all the things the teacher does, all the money she spends so your child’s learning experience will be a good one. Just take the time to realize what a huge part of your child’s life this teacher is. Your child’s teacher probably knows your child better than anyone else except for perhaps the parents and those extremely close to them, and yet, do you even spend the time to think about and appreciate what this teacher does? I hope this has been a wake up call for you. It’s time to start applauding, appreciating, and thanking teachers for all they do!
Thank you to all the dedicated teachers. I know there are a LOT of you!!
