Dear Teacher,
I know this last year has been hard. I know it first hand. I know because I am you. No class in college, no years of experience could prepare you for what teaching has become. It’s hard, I know, but I wanted to let you know you’re doing a great job. Despite what that mean e-mail from that dad said, despite what the moms on Facebook posted, despite how you feel when you’re running on 10 cups of coffee and 3 hours of sleep, you ARE making a difference during one of the most challenging school years of your life.
I used to wrestle with trying to make everyone happy. I used to struggle with what parents said or community members said. I want you to know that though many stakeholders have valuable and insightful input, the ones that you’re going to hear from are usually the ones who don’t have anything nice to say. I assure you there are plenty of parents and other people out there who are in awe of your effort, inspired by what you’re doing every day, and appreciative of how you’ve worked so hard to bring a first-class education right to the doorstep of their children; unfortunately, those people are not usually the vocal ones.
The way you’re working to deliver those lessons is SO creative! I really admire the time you’ve put in to adding your own flair to make the students feel as if they’re really right there with you! Though they might not tell you, the kids love being able to see you and hear your voice. Oh, and I promise that if you did that video lesson/live lesson the other way there would be people complaining they wanted it how you did it to begin with. Don’t listen. You’re an all-star.
I know you spend a lot of extra time checking all 150 of your students’ assignments just to make corrections and handwritten notes so you can provide them with the valuable feedback they need to improve, build on what they’ve learned, learn from their mistakes, and be successful in your class– in a timely manner, of course, so the feedback is meaningful. I know you don’t take the easy route, but instead, take the route that will best allow your students to be engaged and prosper.
The IT professional you’ve become over the past year and your ability to effectively troubleshoot with your students and their parents via e-mail or phone is truly remarkable! Oh, and the way you manage and organize the 18 video files, the 15 Google Forms, and 5 tests you created this week, along with remembering when to start all 37 Zoom conferences with your classes is seriously impressive!
I see you waking up when most people are still sleeping and staying up until midnight and beyond to make sure everything is posted perfectly and easily accessible for your kids. I see you taking time to call and e-mail Daisy to check in and remind her about that upcoming assignment due date since her parents aren’t always around. I know you’re sometimes restless at night, worrying about Timmy because you can’t really see how he’s doing or if he’s eating enough when he’s not physically in school with you.
Somehow, you manage to remember that John has a tree nut allergy, Betty is anemic, Lilly gets extra bathroom breaks for her IBS, Jenny has seizures, Will can’t talk in front of the class because he has anxiety, Shawn needs his EpiPen in case of an allergic reaction, Angie needs walked to the nurse, Julie needs the directions read to her on assessments, Bobby gets fewer choices on multiple choice tests, Danny gets extra time, Paul gets to use the resource room, Jack has epilepsy, Sarah has to sit near the teacher, Walter needs enlarged print, and Lauren’s mom needs weekly e-mail updates on her progress.
I know you feel defeated and unappreciated because let’s face it: teaching is a thankless job. For some reason, some people hate teachers. I’ve come to realize that more and more after I became one 9 years ago. It’s not you, I swear. They hate that we have summers off (you know the two months we usually spend prepping for the next year, buying things with our own money for our classrooms, and maybe even working a second job), they hate that we have a retirement (well deserved, I might add, as our pay is certainly not proportional to our time/effort), and they hate that we get done working early (even though we take all of our work home and end up working well into the evening). I’m not sure if they don’t realize they had the same opportunity to get a teaching degree OR if they are mad that they aren’t making a KILLER difference in the world like YOU. Either way, you deserve every single benefit this career provides.
Chin up, teacher. The reality is everyone is going to have an opinion on what you should be doing. There are A LOT of critics out there in all aspects of life, but it just so happens, that teaching is in the spotlight right now and an entire generation of social media commentators exist. But hear me out, friend: YOU are the teacher. YOU are the professional and educational ROCKSTAR. You spent 4+ years earning a degree (or two or three) for this. You’ve attended and completed a million trainings. You live it every day. You spend your days with not just 1 or 2 kids, but with MANY kids. Despite having a room of 25+ kids at a time multiple times a day, you know each of their needs, their strengths, their weaknesses, their preferences, their goals, their dreams, their fears, how to encourage them, and most importantly, how to best TEACH them so that they LEARN. And YOU are amazing.
Teachers are truly some of the very best people out there. Thank you for caring, selflessly giving of your time, effort, and energy, and for educating tomorrow’s leaders, professionals, and skilled workers. Keep doing the great job you’re doing. I’m cheering for you and so are all the other amazing people out there who don’t have time to write nasty e-mails to/about you and complain on social media. 😉 GO TEACH YOUR STUDENTS THE BEST WAY YOU KNOW HOW! They need you.♡
xo,
Ashley
Ashley is a high school math teacher at a public school in southwestern Pennsylvania. She has been teaching for 9 years. Though she is not personally dealing with a lot of negativity this school year, she is saddened that she hears about and sees it often. She wrote this post to encourage the teacher who may be feeling defeated because of the negativity surrounding education during online learning and hybrid learning. She understands the enormous amount of time and effort put into the job– and the difficulties and challenges teachers are facing especially during this time– and it is her hope that she can inspire other teachers to keep doing their best and remind them that they ARE making a difference!
You can read more about Ashley here.
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