Mae had her holiday party at school on Monday. I was feeling wretched. I was in the middle of one of my GI attacks, and I had just thrown up about an hour before hand. I was prepared to sit there in the corner and pray that audience participation wasn’t required. I was excited to see her with her friends, but I was also really looking forward to going home and tucking us all in for naps.
I walked in and all of the kids were doing the relaxation exercises that they do before yoga. (The thought of 10+ three year olds doing yoga cracks me up to no end.) And then they moved into their songs and dances. A minute or two after I got there, the special ed aides/teachers brought in three more kids. They had their own chairs and what appeared to be little tablets that allowed them to communicate when they couldn’t verbally.
After the songs were over, the SLP who was leading the group started getting all the kids involved. She was asking questions as the kids sat there in the circle listening intently. Thanks to the tablets and the help of the aides she was able to get the nonverbal kids involved, asking them questions and then eventually letting them help with the clean up like the rest of the kids did.
And like happens all too often in my life, my eyes started to fill with tears. For the past 45 minutes this group of women had kept a group of 3 years olds engaged and interested, accommodating for all sorts of levels and abilities. They were promoting language and manners and movement. They were making them smile and laugh. They were making me laugh.
I stay away from the debates over how much money teachers make. I don’t know how much money they make, so I can’t really honestly get into the debate. All I can think is that for all they do there is no way they could make enough.
But what I can say is that there is no way they get enough respect. We honor so many people with respect in this country. We look so highly on leaders and sports figures. We trust our doctors and our nurses. We expect professionalism of our accountants and dentists.
And yet when it comes to teachers, all we seem to talk about is accountability and oversight. Standardization, testing. It’s like we believe teachers couldn’t possibly be professionals in their fields, that they need to be monitored.
And I’m sure there are poor teachers out there just like there are poor quality workers in every field.
But my goodness. The skills these people have. They understand how little brains work. They can teach kids to read and write. They can make numbers make sense! They get them excited about learning and growing. They teach them manners and kindness. They draw out the quiet kids and they reign in the more boisterous ones. And at the big kids’ school, they teach them about God and faith.
What more important job is there, and what level of skill and dedication and knowledge and wisdom and love must be involved?
When I think of teachers, I always think back to my oldest’s first year of preschool. I was so nervous to send her out into the world. And then Sandy Hook happened, and we all saw the pictures and heard the stories. We heard of teachers sacrificing their lives for the lives of their children. We heard of a teacher repeatedly whispering “I love you” to her kids so that the last words they heard would be of love and not of the hate that was about to be brought down upon them.
And I walked in and picked up my daughter from preschool that afternoon. I had my sunglasses on because my eyes were red. I stopped at the prayer candles and I lit a candle. My prayer was a silent one that day because I had no words and no idea what to even pray for.
But the one thing I knew was that those teachers were heroes and that teachers the world over would have done the same thing.
So to all those teachers who are finishing up Christmas or holiday parties today and who are about to begin their two week break, please know that you are noticed and you are appreciated, and my goodness you are talented.
And from all of us moms and dads and kids, our lives would be lesser without you. God bless you and your Christmas.