A tribute to teachers

I volunteer in Payden's classroom every Tuesday morning for an hour. I love to do this because she will see how important education is to me, and I get to observe her in the classroom and also get a feel for the class itself. I have done this with both Michaela and Payden since they were in kindergarden.

Today, I was talking with Payden's teacher, Mrs. Thompson. She is a wonderful woman and teacher, and we were blessed to have her 3 times; Micheala for 1st and 4th grade and Payden for 4th grade. She was telling me about how she wishes some of the politics in the district were different, because they make it harder for her to teach. She says that in order to teach the way she wants, she ends up taking 2 to 3 hours of work home nightly. I told her that this is what makes her a good teacher. I was touched that she cares so much about her students that she would go to that extra work for them. She could easily not do it; and the kids would probably suffer for it. But she cares enough to do it right.

I also observed today how her care of her students goes far beyond the call of duty. A student of hers was complaining about his stomach hurting, and she quickly deduced that it was due to his insubstantial breakfast. He didn't bring a snack, so Mrs. Thompson got in her cubbard and gave him one of her 100 calorie bars. She didn't have to do this, and I am sure she does it often.

I know that teachers use their own money to buy things for their classrooms and for their kids.
I know that they sacrifice their own time for activities and projects just to give their kids a good experience.
I know that there are probably countless other things that I don't even know of that they do to improve the lives of the kids in their classrooms.
I know that they do it in the face of poor pay, and frustrating economical and political situations.

And I know that the lazy teacher that doesn't do these things is the exception, not the rule.

I have friends and family members that are teachers, I have had excellent teachers for my kids, I have had superb teachers myself.

I want to thank all of you teachers out there for going the extra mile, for caring about those kiddos you have in your classrooms for so many hours, for loving them when they are away from home.

You are truly appreciated.