Dear Teacher,
This one is an old one, but it is a good one…and a short one! I can’t help but think someone out there needs to hear this today. You ARE going to make it, Teacher. You ARE making a difference. And you do TOTALLY ROCK!
Keep on teaching, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
Dear Teacher,
Let’s face it, Mondays are the worst.
They come to quickly. They stay too long. They don’t cooperate with is. And they usually and generally stink.
However much we don’t like them, they always come…and they always go. We make it through no matter what they throw at us. Even the baddest of the bad ones eventually go away.
But…I want to challenge you to think about them in another way.
Think about your students that may not have a stable living situation. They may move between family members. They may change apartments once every few months (after evictions are served). They may live at a shelter or in a motel. They may even live in a car.
Think about your students that may not always have enough food to eat away from school. Their parents may be between jobs. Their food money may be squandered away by caregivers. They may have the weekend backpack of food stolen. They may be hungry for any number of reasons.
Think about the students that may have a rough home life. They may see violence or be victims of it. There may be abuse…emotional, physical, or even worse. They may be surrounded by things and people you never dreamed of encountering.
Now, think about what Mondays look like to them.
Mondays can not come soon enough.
Mondays mean safety.
Mondays mean stability.
Mondays mean food.
Mondays mean love.
Mondays mean you…you who cares for them.
So…
Let this Monday be different for you. See it as a chance to see the kids that need you most. Allow it to be you chance to let them know they are loved and have a place in your class with you. And maybe bring and extra snack or two…just in case someone needs a little something hidden in their backpack.
You rock teacher! You do care and you are the reason that Mondays are special to some of those that need you most. Thanks for all that you do! Keep on teaching, Teacher!
Love, Teacher!
Dear Teacher,
No matter what you are going through…
No matter what other people think…
No matter how you are feeling about this school year…
You ARE a great teacher!
You care for those kids.
You do whatever it takes.
You ARE making a difference!
You are awesome…room full of free copy paper awesome!
Please don’t give up! Take time and take stock of what is going right this year and focus on those things. See that you do matter and are doing a great job!
I am proud of you and know you can make it!
You really do rock, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
Dear Teacher,
I am writing this mid-week, but who knows when you might read it. No matter what day of the week or time of the school year, I want you to remember something…
YOU ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN ANYONE CAN EVER KNOW!
The world at large has no idea what it means to be in your classroom with your kids this year. They want to boil what you do down to a formula or thing that can be measured. But it is not about numbers or about data. It is about what is behind each set of eyes that look to you everyday from those seats in your room. You try to know what they need and work hard to make sure that happens. It is hard to do with everything else you are asked to do, but that is your goal and that is your heart.
Not going for political thought here, but the legislators and federal and state admin do not have a clue what it means to be you in front of your class and meeting the needs that are there each and every day. They say that they care for the students…and I am sure that in some way that they do…but you are the eyes, hands, and heart that is actually there for the students. That is what drives you…those kids in your room. You are more important than what comes in a bill or document from somewhere far away from where you are. I know that those things effect you, and it is right to speak up…and it is right to speak up because you are those eyes, hands, and heart there for students. Don’t lose heart!
I could go on and talk about how school admin does not get you every day, how your friends misunderstand what it is you truly do for a living, how parents do not always see what you are seeing, and how students do not yet comprehend the hard choices you make that are best for them in the long run…but I won’t. Just know that I know and get it…and I want to encourage you to keep doing what you do.
You are amazing! Do not let all of the stuff that has been piled up on you destroy you today. Take today for what it is and make the best today for your students. No matter what is on you, YOU’VE GOT THIS!
Keep on going! Keep on fighting! Keep on teaching, Teaching!
Love, Teacher
PS…If you have any thoughts, please share them in the comments. If you like the post and it encouraged you, please share…there are a lot of hurting teachers out there right now! And if you there are certain types of posts you would like to see more of or less of, or if you have an idea for a post for me to do, please let me know…dearteacher@outlook.com.
Dear Teacher,
No one can really measure your worth. I mean really. There is no way to distill everything you do or simplify it into a formula.
Plain and simple, you are there for students. You know what to do in most situations in your classroom most of the time. If you don’t, you look for answers and experiment with solutions.
Programs are good, Curriculum is vital. Tests can help us know progress. But they are not you!
You can scan the room on Monday morning and know who has had a rough weekend and may need a little break, something from your desk that makes them smile, or just a simple hug.
You know the fine art of convincing students to try harder. You are keen on when and how to coach them through failures to master a concept. You are a pro at inspiring students not used to working at a problem until they solve it to do just that…work with grit until they get there. You know that being a little upset, and sometimes a few tears, are a part of the process for students like that. You know when to help and when not to, it is one of your gifts.
You are aware of your students at all times. You know authentically where they are in the content and stages of learning it. You don’t always need a data wall to tell what learning and growth is happening at those desks and tables in your classroom. You just know. It is who you are. It is what you do. And you know how to push each one just a little deeper in and higher up in what they know and can do.
You, my Teacher friend, are a professional. You are good at what you do. Without you we just have programs, curriculum, and tests. But education is oh so much more than that. Students are oh so much more than that. They need oh so much more than that.
Students need you. The system needs you. Education needs you. We all need you.
Thank you for each and everything that you do. Seriously, thank you! Thank you for fighting for students and for what is right. Keep it up. You know the stakes. You are worth it. You are awesome. And, as always, you rock.
Keep on teaching, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
The hallway is clean and shiny as if the floors have just been waxed this morning. You hear your footsteps echo in click-clacks down the hall as you walk slowly and peer into the rooms through the windows on the doors. The rooms are empty, but today you have a strange sense of curiosity about what this place was like some time in the distant past.
Your parents told you stories about what school was like for them. How strange it must have been to have an actual person in the room leading the class in discussions and activities that happened in the room you were in with them. You can not even imagine. Even when you were in school, instruction happened more from a distance and interactions with the others there with you were few and far between.
You stop at a room that you heard used to be a science class. As you look into the room that has been filled with rows of console stations, probably 40-50 total, you think about what it might of looked liked with lab tables and equipment for real experimentation. Holy crap, it must have been so unsafe. You pause at the thought, and then smile. You bet it was fun.
You remember your mom telling you that one of her teachers once brought in a balloon. You can’t remember what you said she told you it was filled with, but it floated like a helium balloon you recall from childhood birthdays. She said that the teacher lit a match on a long pole and touched it to the balloon and it turned into a fireball. A small one, but a fireball, all the same. It was probably frightening. But still, again you smile, it was probably also amazing.
As you think about that, you also have a memory of your mom telling you about the time that same teacher brought her family a pizza one Friday night. What a nice person to be willing to do that. She said that her parents gave the teacher money. You don’t know why. She also told you that the teacher had on a hat of the pizza company. The guy must have really liked that pizza.
As you walk away, saddened a little, you think about how when you were a student, there were seldom times you really knew your teachers. They were in the room some of the time, but it was more about checking on progress than teaching you anything. You had your digital learning system doing most of that work, so teachers did not have to worry about that much. They were too busy to help you learn because the digital systems were still glitchy when you were in school and they needed to work out the kinks.
Besides, as your parents told you, most of the great teachers they had or knew about moved on from the world of working with students. They said they could not afford to do it anymore. Teaching was a job that did not pay well and had a lot of responsibility. That must be part of the reason the profession was phased out. Even when you were in school a lot of states did not even use the word anymore.
Your title, Educational Facilitation Technician, does suit what the role has become better, anyway. Your facility only requires six total to handle the 600-plus student load. Efficiency is key. There is no need for the extra effort, because the learning systems handle all of that.
Still, you think as you arrive at your small office to load the systems to the consoles in the room, you think about how it might have been to be a teacher. As you sit down and launch the program to the rooms on your hall, your wonder where all of the teachers went to and those that might have become one are doing in the world that you live in.
With a sigh, you sit and watch the code on your monitors and wait for the learning to begin.
Dear Teacher,
I know I haven’t been around. And for that I am sorry. I really am.
I have tried to make my comeback and that has led to a lot of stops and starts. To be honest, I have been at a loss. Not writer’s block exactly. I have just been at a loss for words. I just haven’t know what to say.
I don’t ever want this to be about anything political. My goal has always been to be an encouragement and hope to all of you who pour your heart out every day to students, families, and communities. But something has changed since the last presidential election. The world has shifted. And everything seems a little upside down.
And I just haven’t known what to say. I don’t know how to encourage. I don’t know what hope that you need. My words have been gone. My voice has been hoarse.
We have all have had the experience as teachers when we get sick, have allergies, or just plain run out of voice. We can barely speak, yet we need to teach. We have no voice let, yet we need to use it. Our throat hurts, yet the words must come.
That is how I have felt when it comes to writing to you. Everything I think I want to say seems to come out scratchy and distorted. My voice is not clear and my words seem all jumbled.
But…
Just like in the classroom, our lack of voice is not always forever. Our throats clear. Our words return.
And that is where I am now. I think I know what my voice might be here. I can still be a conduit of challenge, hope, and encouragement. I can still help you know how awesome that you are and cheer you on in your fight for students.
And that fight…that fight is where we are as educators. The fight is as big as it has always been, and it is moving into new arenas and to new stages. The fight is bigger than each individual classroom. The fight is more than just the students in your room, but it is for the students in every room…and for the teachers that teach them…and you are finding your voice there now, too.
We are all starting to see that our teacher voice is important. It is needed. We use it to call attention in our classroom and our schools…and now it is being heard in our communities, states, and country. And many of us are now using that voice.
The fight for students is a noble one. It is hard in the classroom, but it is even harder outside of it. And I still want to be here for you in that fight. I am here for you in what you need to do to reach and change the future for our students.
Don’t get me wrong, I am still not going to make this about anything political, but I might be mixing in some thoughts of hope about the other struggles you are working against. You need to remember that you are worth the trouble because you are making the world better for students.
So I applaud you for doing what you feel needs to be done. It is not wrong to seek a world that makes reaching and teaching students to change their future a priority. Your voice deserves to be heard, and I am glad you are finding it.
And I am finding mine to spur you on. All I ask that if you like a post, share it. If you have a thought, send it. And if you need me to encourage you in something here, just ask.
Teacher, you are amazing! You do awesome and incredible things for the sake of those kids that are in your class and in your heart! Please do not give up hope. Please do not give up faith. You do matter. You are important. And you most definitely are making a difference! YOU ROCK!
Love, Teacher
Dear Teacher,
Any where you look you are probably able to find someone who has an opinion about education, the system, and teachers as a whole…and a lot of those ideas and thoughts are not exactly positive most of the time.
And, even though you are thick-skinned and strong, there are times that these words are going to hurt, irritate, and infuriate you. I just want you to remember something, though…
Whatever they say…
Whatever they think…
Whatever they insinuate…
THAT IS NOT YOU.
You are more than the opinions depict. You are more than the negative headlines. You are more than the system. You are more than your school. You are more than even your grade level at the school.
You are your students’ teacher. You are the key to your classroom. You are who knows those kids in your room this year and who knows what they need. You know how to meet those needs…AND if you don’t, you know how to find those answers. You are an advocate and have what it takes do to what it takes for those souls in your care.
In short, you, my teacher friend, are amazing!
I encourage you and implore you to realize your greatness for the moments you have with your students and do what you think is right!
Will it always be noticed? If noticed, will it always be applauded? Will the system see it your way and change? Will the world understand what it takes to do what you do?
Most likely, no on all accounts…but do not let that sway you!
Continue in your courage to do what it right. Be you. Be awesome. Don’t let the voices or opposing forces stop you. Your students need you, and you have got this!
I know it is not easy, but you have seriously got this!
I believe in you, Teacher, and I am not the only one! You are an amazing teacher, and I know you will survive and do what is the right thing to do by your students. Thank you for all you do!
Keep on teaching, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
Dear Teacher,
It has been WAY TOO LONG! I know. I know. I didn’t call. I didn’t write. I left you high and dry. And for that I am truly sorry!
Since I left the traditional classroom and went to work at a science center, life has been a lot more interesting and chaotic (in a good way)…and a lot of my creative juices have been spent at work and with my new hobby (3D printing)…but that is no excuse, and I want to do better. Better for you!
I have been waiting for something pressing on my heart to share with you to give me a jump-start to get back into the habit of writing. I finally found something that I can not hold back from writing to you about…and that something is me!
No, no, no…this is not about telling you how great I am or something awesome I have done. No, really, it is kind of the opposite. And I want to share this with you because I know it is common among so many of us that spend our lives educating and caring for the next generations. I think you or someone you know can relate, so I need to talk about it.
I had stop caring for me in my care for others…students, other educators, my family, my friends, and everybody else. I let myself and my health be something that I did not worry about. I was a good person…being mindful of me and my body was hard and I was doing good for others, so I would be okay…right? I just didn’t need to worry about it…right?
At the end of December last year and into this year, I was at my unhealthiest. I weight more than I have ever weight…exact numbers I can not give you because I stopped getting on the scale because I just could not know…I could not take it…but I am pretty sure I was somewhere between 295 and 305 pounds. I was ALWAYS tired. I caught every bug and virus that went through the schools. And I am pretty sure I was starting to enter a depression cycle.
I was a mess. I truly was!
A gym opened up just a couple of miles from my house, so I determined myself that I was going to join and that would be my catalyst for change. And so in April I finally did.
I worked out nearly every day for months. I lost somewhere in the range of 20-25 pounds. My body was in a bit better shape, but all of the loss plateaued and I was still in the state of sick to unsick (waiting to get sick again) and still teetering on the edge of depression.
I still loved my job, my family, and my life…but still something was not right.
My mother-in-law started a health program over the summer and had started to talk to me about it. I was not super interested because in my mind it was another expensive program that would work for a while and then I would get bored or it would not work and I would wind up back in the same boat I had been in just a little more broke than I was before.
No thanks. I will keep busting my rear end at the gym and do this alone.
That continued to barely move me any further towards feeling better. I finally decided that I might need to consider the fact that I can not do this on my own. I needed to feel better. I needed my blood pressure down (I hate the medicine I take…and the others have worse side-effects). I needed a change. Even if no other diet has ever worked for me, it is working for her and long-term…maybe, just maybe it would work for me.
I jumped in…with a bit of financial help from my father-in-law…I could not convince myself that the money was worth getting closer to broke yet.
I am so glad I did…not because I am losing weight (and a lot of it)…no, I am glad because this plan is NOT about losing weight. This plan is about getting healthy.
I am not writing to you to tell you about the plan I am on…this is not the point…this is NOT an ad. If you are interested, send me a message here and I will get back to you…but the point of this message is not what I am doing to get healthy…but the fact that, yes, I am finally getting healthy.
I can not believe how good I feel. More than that, I feel more like my old teacher self that I have in a very, very, VERY long time. I have more energy to do all of the extra it takes to be a great teacher…the ideas come as easy as they used to…I am excited about the parts of teaching that used to excite me…and I am not dead on my feet at the end of the day and I have more of me left after school to still be me for my family and friends! It is truly amazing!
And the last few days I have been thinking, how did I let myself get into the state I was in and not think it is important to change that?
It is not that I did not want to change…I just did not know how to change. I did not get unhealthy over night. It took years and years to get there. One unhealthy habit at a time, I slowly spiraled out of control and health spiraled out of my reach. I did not know how to get back, and every big move I tried (through the gym and diets) started to turn me around, but none of it was capable of getting me all the way back…because one thing will not do it.
I have learned that the way back is through habits and mindsets just like the way to my sickly state was through habits and mindsets. If I want to get healthy, I can only do it one healthy habit at a time. Losing weight is just the beginning…it was always my goal before. Now it is just the “reset” that will allow me to start back down the road of health. And it has been great!
I share this to encourage you. If you are in the state I was in, YOU CAN CHANGE IT! There is no “one way” to change. You have to find what works for you and think about it as going one step and one habit at a time. Do you snack too much? Trade one snack for a healthier one. Do you not drink enough water? Set yourself a small goal and keep increasing it. Do you sit too much? Pick an activity during the day that you sit during and then start standing instead. The little things add up and you can most certainly do this!
I accidentally started my health journey the year I turned 40. I can’t believe how unhealthy I was! Now that I am slowly getting healthy, I am seriously looking down the road at the next 40 years and seeing how different they can and will be. I can still be around for my family and friends down the road…I can teach as long as the teaching world lets me (and I still want to)…I can enjoy life and not always wonder if I am going to be sick tomorrow (outside of something that can come without health being an issue)…I can be me and maybe even make plans for the next 40 after this 40 is over! Okay, that is a bit of hyperbole…I don’t think I will live to be 120…but you know what I mean!
Teacher, you’ve got this, and you can change! As always, I completely believe in you! You are awesome! Keep on teaching, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
PS…Send me a message here if you are interested in what I am doing.
Dear Teacher,
I thought that you might enjoy a little bedtime story as the new school year begins. Â Enjoy!
And as always, YOU ROCK!
Keep on teaching, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
Goodnight Room by Joseph Blizzard
Inspired by and parody of Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
In the pretty good, green classroom
(that would be better if there were
more than five minutes between meetings)
There was a station for phones
(that will no doubt need to be taken up…
perhaps spinner toys will fit there, too)
And a fidget stress-ball made from a balloon
(that is currently supposed to be for
students, but it may become Teacher’s)
And an interactive whiteboard presentation of-
(and made by the super-techie teammate after
Teacher spent hours trying to do it alone)
The cow jumping over the moon
(because, well, who doesn’t want to make the
cow jump over the moon?)
And there was a square of alternate seating chairs
(that the class roster showed will be needed
because of the many IEPs for ADHD)
And a poster of kittens
(with a growth-mindset reminder for all
in the class to just “hang in there”)
And a hidden place for a pair of mittens
(for when the district-mandated thermostat
setting requires their need in winter)
And picture of Teacher’s house
(so the students know Teacher doesn’t
live at school…and Teacher can remember
what it looks like on the long
afternoons of grades and conferences)
And a young mouse
(that administration swears will
be taken care of very soon)
And a comb and a brush
and a bowl and a packet of oatmeal mush
(for when there is no time in the
morning to look like a human and
eat a more human like breakfast
before Teacher leaves the house)
And a chair in the corner for when Teacher
is tired and stressed and just whispers “hush”
(which may be the end of the year, or halfway
through, or might just be next week)
Goodnight light
(that Teacher can finally turn off because
the work that should have been done when
there was meetings and is as done as it
is going to be before students come)
Goodnight stress-ball red balloon
(that Teacher is considering taking home
after spending afternoon and into the
night in the classroom)
Goodnight square of chairs
(that Teacher is trying not to think
about already moving around the room)
Goodnight alternate seating chairs
(that Teacher knows is going to cause
problems because there aren’t enough
for each and every student)
Goodnight “hang in there” kittens
(that Teacher will probably need
to heed the words of often)
Goodnight mittens
(that hopefully will not be needed
this year, but most definitely will be)
Goodnight clocks
(that Teacher put around the room so
maybe the students will learn time-management)
Goodnight socks
(that teacher turned into puppets because
of the strangest IEP ever seen)
Goodnight Teacher’s house
(that Teacher will soon see for the
very short time that Teacher will
be home before coming back in)
Goodnight mouse
(that Teacher hopes never to
have to see again)
Goodnight comb
Goodnight brush
(that Teacher will probably need
in the morning because it is already
so late right now)
Goodnight nobody
(that Teacher hopes is nobody after
hearing noises in the empty halls)
Goodnight packet of oatmeal mush
(that Teacher will also probably
need in the morning)
Goodnight to the chair where Teacher
will soon be whispering hush
(it will definitely be next week,
Teacher just doesn’t know yet)
Goodnight stars
(that Teacher got the crafty teammate
to make for the bulletin board)
Goodnight moon
(that was also made by the ever
crafty teammate for said board)
Goodnight air
(that will soon be filled with the
not-so-pleasant student smells soon)
Goodnight noises that will soon be everywhere
(that Teacher will be irritated with
but has also kind of missed this summer
because with all of the frustrations
Teacher still loves being a Teacher)
Dear Teacher/Love Teacher 