Wednesday, April 25, 2001
|
Wednesday, April 25, 2001 |
|
Making a difference: Thank you, teachers By AMY RILEY Teachers are people who get to decorate the future with little thumbprints of themselves. They are like torch bearers of human potential, holding each mind for a short while. They gild and broaden what was cultivated before them, and they reach even higher to pass off to those who will follow after them in the lives of a child. They are moms and dads, neighbors and friends, and they leave their marks subtly, but in indelible ink. They are the first people, besides relatives and your closest friends, whom your little ones will love. They are the only ones, besides relatives and your closest friends, who will love your little ones back. Your children will go to school and mistakenly call their teacher, Mommy. They will come home and mistakenly call you by the name of their teacher. It is the highest compliment that can be paid in both cases, and gives testimony to the trust that a teacher instills. They come in all flavors, some quiet and serious, others jubilant and charismatic. They each bring into the lives of children a love for learning, and a passion for their passion. Those who teach literature and writing teach children to hear laughter in a babbling brook, to see stained glass windows weep in the rain, and to experience life through living words. Those who teach math teach children that problems can be solved, that life is full of absolutes, and that sometimes in life, you have to prove what you believe. Science teachers teach those with inquiring minds that all good hypotheses begin with a question. They can go toe to toe into the 20 powers of "why" with the child who is terminally curious, and have patience beyond measure. Social studies teachers are the first to reveal that we are a tiny planet of human beings who are more alike than different, but that we will all leave a mark in this world that cannot be duplicated. They teach us that if we drop the ball, our mark will be missing, and the big picture will be left unfinished and wanting. Teachers plant the seeds of art and music, carefully tending the mind's soil so that the seeds will bear fruit and fill our senses with sound, color, texture, and depth. Teachers seem to give away more than they get back. Some are called to the profession because they have a heart for young people, and a belief that they can impact the world one little wide-eyed child at a time. Others come in to the profession and find that the children impact them in much the same way. There are good years and bad years, rewarding years and costly years. There are times that go by, when teaching is so hard and success too seldom, that teachers find themselves hanging on the hope that one child will be reached, and that reaching that one will be reason enough to go on teaching. There are times when teachers must concern themselves with not just the minds of their students, but the bellies and the hearts of their students, too. Do these children with whom I am trusted have enough to eat? Are they loved and nurtured? Are they warm and safe? There are teachers who no doubt ask of themselves each day, "Am I the only person that will reach out to this child today? If I am, am I listening attentively, am I responding assuredly, and most of all, am I leaving this child with a sense that he matters?" Because to teachers, they all matter. There are no unteachable or unlovable children. To teach is to reach out the hardest to the child who least wants to be reached. To teach is to impart knowledge, so that there can be hope for tomorrow. To teach is to confidently make learning "cool," to find the biggest tough guy and turn him on to learning. To teach is to render even the most ardent resistor movable, like the potter with his clay. The week of May 711 is Teacher Appreciation Week. Reach out to a teacher. Each of us carries with us memories of those teachers who made all the difference in our lives. There are teachers today who are creating that same brand of magic in the lives of your children. Share your thoughts with a teacher. Pour out your appreciation to the ones who pour out their talents to teach children. Thank you, teachers. You make all the difference in the lives of a children, and in the life of this community. [Your comments are welcome: ARileyFreePress@aol.com.]
|
||