Appreciation.

I don't want people to think that I got into teaching for the financial rewards (obviously not, since you can't make a lot of money at this) or for gifts from students or parents. I do this job because I love it and I believe I was gifted with the ability to do it well. But at the same time, it does feel nice to be recognized and appreciated for the job that we do. Teaching is a lot harder than the general public thinks. I know they believe that it's an 8-3 job with tons of vacation time. But I am at school at 7:15 in the morning and my students arrive at 8:15 and I only get about 20 minutes for lunch (how many of you get hour long lunches?!) and I have 30 minutes for planning (to make stuff for my lessons, plan my lessons, prepare things for the students, do their folders, write notes home, call parents if I need to, email other teachers and professionals about things at school, mark papers, enter grades etc). When that is all done, I usually stick around an extra 30 minutes getting ready for the next day. And there are plenty of days that I take home work because I am just plain old out of time. During the day it is said that teachers make approximately 1,000 decisions that affect the lives of their students and that is STRESSFUL. Never mind the fact that there is constant pressure to keep up with the newest research and methodologies. And then take into account that it's not just one or two children but around 20 at a time... and some of them are sick, some come from home lives that leave a lot to be desired, some are hungry, some are tired, some a needy for attention, some have special needs, some aren't ready for what they need to learn yet, some aren't interested in school, some are beyond what is being shown to you so they are bored and/or acting out and the list goes on. So at the end of the day it is a hard job and if I did it for the money, it just wouldn't be worth it to me. But I find so many rewards in the eyes of my students... and yet, it would be nice to be recognized by the parents and the community at large. This past Thursday was National Teacher's Day. Only two of my students saw fit to give me a card or a gift. I don't need the gifts, but a thank you from the parents would be great. A discount at stores on that day would be AWESOME (did I mention that I spend upwards of $500 for my students and classroom each year?)!! Okay, my rant is over... :)