Post date: Apr 9, 2014 11:40:34 AM
With Teacher Appreciation Week right around the corner, now is a good time to pause and remind ourselves of all the great teaching that takes place every day in our schools. It’s not that I’m insensitive to the demands of teaching. The woman I am related to by marriage makes sure of that. It’s just that it can be all too easy for me to get caught up in personnel and performance issues in my school and lose track of the time and energy our best teachers put into their work on a daily basis.
My most recent reminder of this hit just a couple of months ago when Dave French and I were asked to present for one of the principal cohorts. Combined, I’d say Dave and I put in at least a dozen hours in researching, planning, and meeting for this ninety minute presentation. Along the way we encountered difficulty imbedding the technology we wanted to use and with the layout of the room. We had to transport equipment between our two schools and meet the evening before to make sure everything was operational. I’m not the natural speaker Dave is, so I wrote out index cards and reviewed them several dozen times in the day or two before we presented.
Dave and I worked hard to make sure that our presentation was interactive. We wanted our colleagues engaged. We searched for and incorporated music and video to fit our theme. Despite all our preparation things went well but not exactly as planned. We got started late, ran a little long, and I know I missed at least a couple of points that I had wanted to include.
And, this is where I need to take a step back. The average elementary school teacher has to plan for and deliver more than four hours of instruction a day five days a week. We expect her classes to be just as interactive and engaging as any presentation for principals, but the odds are that her audience won’t be as respectful. We also expect instruction and materials to be differentiated. More and more we are looking for the effective incorporation of technology and for instructional decisions to be driven by disaggregated data.
Years ago in graduate school a professor referenced a book entitled, If You Don’t Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students! by Neila Connors. In chapter two she writes, “”Why feed the teachers” should be an easy question to answer. Administrators who make it a priority to treat teachers with respect, recognize invaluable contributions, and realize teachers are their best allies, see great things happen. The returns are unlimited! Teachers are extraordinary resources that outstanding leaders acknowledge as vital components of successful schools.”
I’ve always maintained that teaching was the most difficult job I’ve ever held. To this day I’ve never gone home more exhausted than after a full day in a classroom full of ten year olds. And, while we should treat every week as teacher appreciation week, I will be going out of my way to make sure I am conveying that message during the second week of May this year.