Teacher Appreciation Day!

Outside my window the birds chirp joyfully. The sun tussles with the clouds but the sky is a patient blue. Dandelions cluster on the lawn.  On the other side of the wall, my husband, a Middle School/HighSchool Administrator zooms. His voice and the garbled voices to whom he's speaking are non-stop.  The school day starts early and stretches into late evening.

Teachers work hard every day, but they are working exponentially harder these days. Virtual learning is a wonderful tool, but it requires so much more than sitting in front of a screen explaining things. Without the physical energy of the classroom, it is easy for students, as it would be for any of us, to drift into daydreams. Some students adapt, but struggling students still struggle, and the lack of non-verbal clues adds a further layer of confusion to students in ENL programs. Equity of technology issues as well as the disparity of home life situations can be exacerbated by distance learning. 

And yet, as always, teachers persevere. 

Teacher's are so much more than the subjects they teach. So much more than Math or English, Science or Social Studies. While it isn't outlined in curriculum notes, a teacher's greatest lesson is tucked between the equations, lines of poetry, periodic tables or battle dates.  

I don't remember what I learned in first grade, but I remember the kindness of Sr. Immaculate when I was crying because my brother spilled chocolate milk on his shirt and my mother is ironing another one (!) and my father had to walk me to school and now my brother is going to be late.  Sister Immaculate comforted me with kind words and brought me to the the candy closet to choose a treat (I picked a packet of caramels with cream in the middle). 

I don't remember what I learned in third grade, but I do remember how Mrs. Penotti welcomed  a timid new student, not just on the first day, but every day that year.  

I remember Miss Cash reading The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Miss Cash often read to us, but I particularly remember the afternoon she stood leaning against the radiator reading the Pied Piper.  It was the end of a long day made longer by a blue sky, warm breeze and birds joyfully chirping outside the classroom windows— the kind of day when it's difficult for a seventh grader to sit at a desk diagramming sentences— the kind of day like today when good teachers like Sister Immaculate, Mrs. Penotti and Miss Cash do their best to nurture their students despite all obstacles.

Long distance learning opens a new world of possibilities in the field of education, but nothing replaces the human interaction between teachers and students. Real learning includes incidental, tucked-in, unscripted moments. One day a generation of students will recall these challenging times and the virtual but familiar faces who helped them persevere.