When I was little I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. Whenever my friends and I played schoolhouse, I was always the bossy teacher, and they were the mean students.
To me like many, teaching was a calling on my life. A calling that is not for the faint of heart. Through my years of teaching I made lifelong friends, and met good people who went far above and beyond their calling every day.
It occurred to me, as we are all getting ready to get the supply list and go to orientations and meet our child’s new teacher(s), that parents really do not know what most teachers actually do.
Yes, you see that they have the summers off, but did you know that by July 4th they are starting to feel it? It being that worry in their gut, about the upcoming year. Will they be moved to a different grade? A new room? A different school? Have the Core Standards changed? Will my class score high enough on testing?
You see, you don’t just walk in on the first day of school and everything magically happen. These professionals spend hours lying awake at night thinking of ideas of how to set up a learning environment that is conducive to all learning styles. Then they brainstorm ideas of how to pay for all of the new things they need to buy out-of-pocket to start out the year.
And that is only the beginning. What you as parents don’t know is that your child’s teacher hears a lot of stuff about you. Stuff that they don’t necessarily want to know. This teacher will spend more time with your child than they will with their own children. They will treat them the way they wants their kids to be treated. They will pray for them.
This teacher will not only teach academics to your child everyday, but also life lessons. They will be the seating coordinator, social worker the judge and jury, triage nurse, bathroom monitor, friendship counselor, destroyer of all clubs that leave people out, tissue passer and the person that ties their shoes. When they see that one hard to get along with parent coming down the hall, he or she doesn’t duck into the faculty bathroom. No, they stand there with a smile on their face and listen to how Johnny is gifted and you’re not meeting his needs.
Then there are those students that have horrible home situations. The ones that never have an appropriate coat, and are always asking to take the leftover food from the Christmas party home with them.
I usually spotted this child in my class within the first few days of the school year. I always tried to give them a specific job and make them feel wanted and needed in our classroom.
One year I was teaching first grade and I had a particular little boy who had a very hard life. He could not wait to get to school. He was the first one in the classroom off the earliest bus, and the last one to leave. He never missed a day.
Everyday he turned on all the lights and took down all the chairs. He did everything he could for his classmates and me. I told him he could be the “Classroom Assistant,” because he loved helping others. He was very poor but he was bright and wanted to learn.
One morning the week before winter break, I arrived to my room and the door was still shut and the lights were off. He wasn’t there.
I thought maybe he was walking his younger sibling to the kindergarten wing, or still in breakfast. He never showed. I tried not to worry I mean after all he was seven years old, he could have gotten sick.
We went on with our day, and around 9 o’clock I was called down to the office and met by a couple of police officers. They told me my student and his brothers and sisters have been moved out of the home and placed in separate foster care homes across different counties. I stood there numb, feeling like I was going to vomit. With tears flowing I tried to answer their questions. This was the first time as a young teacher I had a student taken away. I kept running it over and over in my head. Did I miss something? Were there red flags? Could I have done something? What was the last thing I said to him? Still to this day my heart hurts when I think about that morning.
You see, what you don’t know about teachers is, that most of them really care.
Jesus is the greatest example we have of a perfect teacher. But, everywhere he went he had people following him around trying to destroy him. Eventually, it was these same religious leaders who played a part in having him arrested and crucified. (Matthew 26:59) Yet, while Jesus was on earth he taught us to love, forgive, show compassion, and not to judge.
I still remember my favorite teacher and, if I’m being honest, my least favorite one as well. I mean let’s face it, some people should not be teaching. Period.
But to those that out there trying, I think we should support them, pray for them, and not tear them down with our words. The very best teachers are the ones that will care for your child and cultivate a positive relationship with them. Give it time and watch it grow.
In Christ,
Beth
