By God's Southern Grace: Thank Your Teach!

Teaching is a very demanding job no matter what day of the year you pick. At the beginning of the year, teachers are busy preparing the last minute details that have to be taken care of before students arrive. Of course, they are doing that all between professional development opportunities that have to be taken amidst the chaos. Putting names on everything to give kids a more personalized environment, sorting the millions of papers that have to go home at open house, and adding the final touches to those bulletin boards to make the classroom more inviting. Many times all of those “extras” come out of a teacher’s pocket to show the kids how much they look forward to them being in their classroom and to show parents how much they care about their kid that will be in their hands for the next 180 days.

Move to the middle of the year, and you will find a teacher grading papers, meeting with other grade level teachers to get recommendations on how to improve teaching techniques, having conferences with parents, and monitoring progress constantly to make sure your child will be reaching their year end goals.

And at the end of the year….the work is still not done. That same teacher is trying to keep your students engaged even though summer is so close, and they are ready to be outside playing than in the classroom. He or she is administering those year-end tests to see what a huge leap your child has made since the beginning of the year. She is preparing awards for the upcoming awards day and sorting the piles of paperwork that seem to accumulate at the end of the year. And you know what else? She’s preparing for next year. She’s going over in her mind what worked, didn’t work, and what she can’t wait to try next year.

And those summers off? They don’t truly happen. Go to the school almost any day in the summer, and you will mostly likely find several teachers working on their classrooms, running copies, labeling books, etc. And when they’re at home….they’re still working. Preparing folders, buying resources from Teachers Pay Teachers {from their own pockets}, creating lessons, laminating , and that’s just scratching the surface.

As a teacher, I cannot tell you how much time we spend to prepare to try to teach your kids to the best of our ability. I cannot tell you how much money we spend out of our own pockets to give your child the best learning experience and environment. It’s endless work. Even when we get home, we think about your kids. They become ours, too. We love them like our own and take lots of pride in our jobs.

I say all this to remind you that this week is Teacher Appreciation Week. I’m not writing this to solicit gifts. I just want to remind the world that all it takes is a small thank you note. It sometimes makes the biggest difference in a teacher’s day. Teaching is a very stressful job, and kind words go a long way.

However, if you’re looking for some great gifts to show a small token of your appreciation for those guys and gals out there shaping your kids into successful citizens, here’s some that I found on Pinterest that I’m sure any teacher would enjoy. {Click on the pictures to find the original links}