Much Appreciated

 This past week was filled with little reminders, mostly from our principal, of just how much we teachers are appreciated. There were bagels and fresh fruit on Monday, treated to Taco Tuesday, a very special video of thanks on Wednesday, yogurt and ice cream sundaes on Thursday, and Goldfish snacks on Friday. Combined with daily and weekly shout-outs for a job well done by our administrator, we felt honored and recognized. Appreciated. 

The President of the United States tweeted his appreciation for us all, including his First Lady, Doctor Jill. She's a doctor of education. You get that right? She's not going to open you up or prescribe you a pill. She's going to educate you to make you well. 

As are we all. It is what we do. And yet, once again teachers are simultaneously being held up for their efforts and torn down for their organizing. I don't tend to think a lot about this kind of push and pull much over the course of any day. I'm there to do a job. I'm there to keep kids safe. To keep them learning. Showing them the difference between area and perimeter. Asking probing questions about Charlotte's Web. Bringing four square balls to the playground and ensuring that there are no cherry bombs or chicken feet. Reminders to be safe, responsible and respectful. Waiting on the front steps of the school when mom is running a little late at the end of the day. 

And all those things in between. Meanwhile, I am reminded that "a good teacher is hard to find, but even harder to forget," and "behind every great person is a teacher who inspired them." Whether these messages come from the side of coffee mugs or posters sent to us by the school district, they exist to remind us grownups of the job we are here to do. Over the past twenty-four years, I have not met anyone who went into teaching for the money. Or the illusory paid summer vacation. The only reason I get a check in June and July is because I have the accountants downtown set aside a chunk of my salary and defer it to those hazy lazy crazy days when I am doing trainings, attending meetings and catching my breath in anticipation of yet another autumn filled with school. Anyone who has volunteered to stop by my job to help out for a day is always gratified to know that once that bell rings at the end of the day that they are done. Because I and my fellow teachers are not. We are cleaning up and preparing for the next day. Collecting papers, finding a new pencil sharpener to replace the one that was broken during an experiment to see how it performed on the wrong end of a pencil, and oh those meetings. 

I am not a teacher for the appreciation, but it helps. It helps when you look at test scores or attendance numbers that aren't trending the way you might have hoped. It helps when you are trying to figure out how to get kids out of their warm beds to sit in front of a screen, or someday soon find their way to a classroom nearby. Eyes open, ears too. The appreciation makes the other weeks of the year feel like they are part of this great challenge to get kids from one August to the next, able to distinguish area from perimeter. 

Totally worth it.