5 Things You Should Know about Teachers on Elementary School Teacher Day

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Today is elementary school teacher day. In my work as an elementary school counselor, I had the great fortune to work with many excellent elementary school teachers, some of whom remain my best friends. Trust me, they deserve more than a day.

Here are a few things I know about these wonderful people, as both a mom and an educator.

1. It's not about the paycheck. Some teachers are paid very well, but many are not. And yet, they turn up for work every day to deal with everyone from stellar students to children going through personal troubles to drunk parents to parents who are packing to PTO moms who bring them delicious treats. Nope. Did not make a single one of those up. All real -- and just from my own experience.

2. It's not about summers "off." Granted, freedom from teaching in June and July is nice, but that doesn't mean teachers just kick back and do nothing. With the school year starting in mid-August, teachers are in the classrooms setting up by August 1. In June and July, they're often taking courses they need to stay certified and making plans for what they want to do in the fall. It's a nice break -- but not much longer than most similarly credentialed professionals get (think MBAs, as most experienced teachers have master's degrees or beyond). Teachers just get their break all at once, whether they want it that way or not.

3. It's not a nine to five job. Teachers are required to arrive at a minimum half an hour before the start of the school day and stay, again, at a minimum, fifteen minutes after dismissal begins. Most teachers either begin their day earlier than that or end their day later; some do both. And, in addition....

4. It's not the kind of job that lets you leave work at work. As a school counselor, I often brought my kids' worries home with me, but teachers do that every night, along with papers to grade. (See also #3). They don't get paid by the paper or paid extra at all; it's just part of the job -- a part that cannot get done during the school day because there simply isn't enough time.

5. It's more than a career choice. Most teachers accept all of the above, along with recess duty when it's 30 degrees (or 85 degrees), meetings that start before the school day and/or end after the school day ends, professional development that can't possibly be confused with planning time or personal development as a professional. Why?? Because they can't imagine doing anything else. They love their kids, they bond with their colleagues and they make school a place kids want to come because most of them want to come to school, too. Sure, there are rotten apples in the bunch, but that's true of any profession. Good teachers will reach out to help anyone who needs it -- their students, their colleagues, the school custodian, the grandma who volunteers to help in their classroom, sharing their time, talent, and treasure freely.

Their reward? A place in the hearts of the children they teach...who become young adults and turn up in their college classes, or greet them when they're at a restaurant.

So, if you haven't already reached out to thank a teacher today -- whether your child's teacher or one who holds a special place in your heart -- today might be a great day to do that. You just might make their week.

stevepb via Pixabay

Awful August

Yesterday, I was checking out the back-to-school sales at Staples. I love school supplies, back-to-school shopping and sales. I ran into a former colleague and had a fun, on-the-fly chat. The day was sunny--hot, but sunny--and it was Sunday, so the whole day was at my disposal. I had few complaints.

Today, it's August 1. MONDAY, August 1.

That hardly seems fair.

Today, it's gray--not raining (yet), but gray--and I felt overbooked before I got out of bed. The meme at left, while perfectly reflecting my feelings, did give me a little chuckle when I found it on a friend's Facebook page. Marilyn's a teacher, too, so she knows that turning the calendar page to August means it's time to get serious. The former colleague I ran into at Staples yesterday knows this, too. She was planning on working on her classroom today.

Though my days of putting together an office at school are behind me, August still means putting things together. These days, it's syllabi and reading lists, Moodles and presentations. None of this is difficult, but all of it means that the great ideas I've been planning in my head (where details don't matter, so it's not a problem if they're not fleshed out) need to be transferred to paper where they'll need to have goals and objectives and be attached to due dates. As a big picture person, I get a stomachache just thinking about it.

Pixabay

This month is a wake-up call in more ways than one. August means nudging my body back into a sleep schedule that doesn't come naturally. The longer days of summer are perfect for night owls like me who get a second wind sometime around 7PM. During the summer, if I choose to ride that second wind until midnight, there's no alarm clock to fear the next day. During the semester, when I ride the second wind until midnight (as I invariably do), I pay for it the next day, and the sleep deficit grows larger as the week progresses. August means acknowledging that the world operates on a different schedule than I do.

cliparts101.com

And this August means a new kind of back to school at our house. In three weeks, we'll be dropping my daughter off at college. She's ready and I'm as ready as I can be, but as the summer winds down, the reality of this departure keeps sneaking up on me and hitting me over the head when I least expect it. Last Friday night, for example, we did some dorm supply shopping, which was fun--until I got home and we began unpacking our purchases and reality hit. Since March, I've been almost unequivocally excited about all the adventures that lie ahead for my daughter, but, now that it's August, equivocation has set in. I'm going to miss her and life is going to be very different.

I still have almost a month to ease into these changes, though. Between now and the end of this month, we'll visit my parents, spend some time as a family in New York City, see Billy Joel in concert and celebrate my birthday. And, because August also means that crisp, cool fall weather is just around the corner, this month I dread will give way to my favorite season of all.

Now that I can get behind.

Saturday Special: Organizing Tricks for Teachers

#3 (Buzzfeed.com)

On Thursday, I went onto campus and spent about an hour in my office checking emails and making to-do lists. My friends who teach have begun making forays back into their classrooms, preparing for the school year ahead. Some of them never really left.

So, in their honor, I'm sharing a great Buzzfeed post about organization ideas for teachers. Most are designed for elementary school teachers, but many will transfer to secondary and post-secondary staff, as well as parents, or anyone looking for ways to keep paper, pens and the like neat and corralled.

As for me, I'm going into my basement to retrieve what I need to make #19 a reality in my campus office.