I used to be a teacher in my former life. I spent my days in a fifth grade classroom full of high needs and at-risk kids. It was challenging; but there were so many moments of joy, it almost blurred the hard stuff. The delight on my students' faces when I played kick ball at recess with them or their protests when I stopped just at the most exciting part of the novel or their rapt attention when I was telling them a story from my travels around the USA - all of these made me feel like I was getting through to them and made my job worthwhile.
But that's the thing - when a teacher truly loves his or her job, when they are one of the great ones, you just know it's more than a job to them. It's a calling.
Great educators are more than just teachers. They take care of the whole child. No matter what problems a student brings into the classroom with them, truly great educators don't back down from any of it.
Sending your first child to kindergarten can be a difficult time for any parent, but when Hubby and I sent Joey to school three months into his treatment for terminal cancer, we were absolute wrecks. He was bloated from the steroids, partially hairless from the chemotherapy, and extremely forgetful due to the radiation to his brain. In a classroom of 29 other five-year-olds, a lesser teacher would have crumbled. But he had not one, but two of the most amazing teachers I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Mrs. G and her assistant Mrs. S were like second and third mothers to Joey. They didn't flinch at any of the hard stuff that came to school with Joey. They let him bring his beloved stuffed animal Stripey Kitten to school with him every day. And when his brain tumor made him forget how special she was to him, they let him bring Spotty Frog instead. When he couldn't lie on the floor for rest time, they let him go to the nurse's office. When he lost control of his bowels, they changed his clothes. They gave him a chance to do everything all of the other kids were doing, yet understood when he could not. They gave him a chance to have a normal life when that was the farthest from what was happening. They looked at his face every day - a face that was getting more bloated and blank with each passing treatment - and instead of avoiding it, they smiled, they hugged, they welcomed. They embraced the days when Joey was lucid and taught him (tricks like how to balance Stripey Kitten on his head), and they were a home for him on the days when we both needed a break. They were there for him until the very end, and I will never for the rest of my life forget either one of these amazing women.
These teachers.
They both inspire me to be better when I return to the classroom someday. To know that a student is not one-dimensional, to know that he has challenges and hardships that might be clearly visible or hidden deep within the surface is to teach the whole child. That is what amazing educators do.
Kronos Incorporated knows just how amazing teachers can be, and they want to help you #ThankaTeacher for everything they do. Please watch this short video and think about all the ways teachers have touched your life and the lives of those around you.
Because they know that we all have been touched by a special teacher, Kronos Incorporated wants to give your favorite teacher a $100 Staples gift card. And just for thanking that teacher, they want to give you a $50 American Express gift card. Just like a great education, it's truly a win-win for everyone! Hooray for our teachers!!
So tell me in the comments, who was/is your favorite teacher and why? What has this person done to inspire or encourage you?
*This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Kronos Incorporated. They have compensated me for writing what I would shout from the rooftops anyway - that teachers are awesome and deserve to be thanked!!!!
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