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Thank A Teacher


TetRefine

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So this past week was Teacher Appreciation Week, and I think it is all very important that everybody thank a teacher that really taught you something valuable. The very fact that you can enjoy reading on Gay Authors all stems from an early elementary school teacher showing you all the skills and techniques of being an effective reader. The fact that so many of you can write wonderful, sweeping, complex stories all began with learning how to write basic sentences in preschool, kindergarden, and 1st grade.

 

What a lot of people don't realize is how much work it takes to be a teacher. Its not a "just during school hours" job, as some idiotic detractors will have you believe. Its an around the clock, non-stop passion. Papers don't grade themselves, supplies don't just magically appear, and parent emails don't get answered by magic. All that has to be done outside school hours on the teacher's own time. With the economic clusterfuckery of today, school budgets are being squeezed tighter and tighter, even in nicer districts. Who do you think buys all those supplies for your kids when the budget doesn't allow for it? Yeah, teachers out of their own paycheck. And as a teacher myself, I can tell you that teachers are woefully underpaid for any worker, let alone a skilled professional who works considerable hours. Republicans love to demonize us for being public employee leeches, but those who do are just fucking morons. Have you ever met a rich teacher? Yeah, neither have I.

 

And you should especially thank those teachers who work in tough areas, often inner cities, under considerable stress for even less pay, and with hardly any resources. Not only are they just teachers, but often stand-in parents, social workers, psychologists, and behavior specialists, all rolled into one without proper pay or training. They are the only support group that many of those kids have, and we as inner city teachers often work so hard for so little progress. Remember that.

 

So whether you came up through the boarding school elite or the rough and tumble inner-city public system, thank a teacher because they did a lot for all of us.

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You're a teacher? :lmao: wow! Highschool? so's my sis ^_^ i dont know about other places, but here, where i come from, teacher's day is a must celebration for all school schools ^_^

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  • Site Administrator

This is exactly why I spend so much time at my kids' school, some weeks nearly enough for it to be a job. But it's all part of ensuring their educational experience is as good as I can make it, by being involved, by helping the teachers and librarian and gym and music teachers because they do so damn much already, anything I can do is one less thing that takes time away from their focus in the classrooms.

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One thing that i dont get is that teacher's buy supplies? Or the school is suppose to? The only supplies i know that a school, say a highschool( in my place at least) needs whiteboards, some for each class and sometimes markers and those board erasers. And as far as im concern the ministry pays for it. Stationery are given to teachers and even books (xtra activity books and even textbooks) and supplies like pencils and all that the students bring their own. Owh! Is it because we're a government school?? I know some schools like do everything on their own like buying or building stuff, but most of the money comes from rich parents and the alumni, and maybe a lil from the teacher as well. Schools like mine are half indie and half government so that explains it i guess...but still tho no teacher should buy supplies.

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Many students, especially in inner city and depressed areas, don't have the money (or the parental or community support) for school supplies. So the teacher provides them, and there's no budget for the cost. Also, if the teacher wants to teach something that requires additional "stuff", they often pay for that too.

 

It's now fairly common to see gofundme campaigns set up by teachers so they can actually concentrate on teaching.

 

It sucks.

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Many students, especially in inner city and depressed areas, don't have the money (or the parental or community support) for school supplies. So the teacher provides them, and there's no budget for the cost. Also, if the teacher wants to teach something that requires additional "stuff", they often pay for that too.It's now fairly common to see gofundme campaigns set up by teachers so they can actually concentrate on teaching.It sucks.

 

Owh i get it now, tho i dont think teachers where i come from ever buy there students supplies, the additional stuff yes, and maybe supplies in the form of gifts for getting good grades or scoring quizzes but never because their students dont have any pens or ruler etc. Or maybe they simply didnt care. One other thing i know is that most schools in the US will give out lists of what they need to get for school, most of them i thought was unnecessary like maybe for a highschooler they need to get crayons or school glue lol. And must they really get all that stuff? And i heard they get all that stuff not only for them but for the whole class?

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The unfortunate truth is that most classrooms, even in the more affluent middle classes, are woefully underfunded. I have seen the lower middle class families who can barely put food on the table be more supportive of increases in school budgets than the people who could easily afford a few extra bucks on the school taxes. They understand that an improvement in education will lift their children to the next levels.

 

Piper is right in that teachers should not have to spend their own funds, but thank God so many do! They make the difference for hundreds of children every year.

 

Money is not the only obstacle to a good education anymore however. The dramatic increase in testing at all levels pulls away from classroom time, and in some cases shows nothing more than that students have been taught how to take a test. While it is important to assess how a school is performing, can't we find a better way than to pull so much time away from teaching the core curriculum to prepare the children for the latest round of testing?

 

But we digress.  Tet is 100% correct, teachers do so much for our children. Support them, and not one day or one week a year!  If you have a little extra cash on shopping day, buy an extra box of tissues, or pencils, a box of crayons, anything that might be appreciated in a classroom, and send them in. Believe me, every teacher I know will appreciate it!

I would say if you can read this, hug a teacher, but that too has become a problem. We ( teachers, aids, administrators, and volunteers alike) cannot show any affection of any sort to students for fear of it being misinterpreted. And that is a shame really because sometimes a simple hug makes all the difference.

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The unfortunate truth is that most classrooms, even in the more affluent middle classes, are woefully underfunded. I have seen the lower middle class families who can barely put food on the table be more supportive of increases in school budgets than the people who could easily afford a few extra bucks on the school taxes. They understand that an improvement in education will lift their children to the next levels.

 

Piper is right in that teachers should not have to spend their own funds, but thank God so many do! They make the difference for hundreds of children every year.

 

Money is not the only obstacle to a good education anymore however. The dramatic increase in testing at all levels pulls away from classroom time, and in some cases shows nothing more than that students have been taught how to take a test. While it is important to assess how a school is performing, can't we find a better way than to pull so much time away from teaching the core curriculum to prepare the children for the latest round of testing?

 

But we digress. Tet is 100% correct, teachers do so much for our children. Support them, and not one day or one week a year! If you have a little extra cash on shopping day, buy an extra box of tissues, or pencils, a box of crayons, anything that might be appreciated in a classroom, and send them in. Believe me, every teacher I know will appreciate it!

I would say if you can read this, hug a teacher, but that too has become a problem. We ( teachers, aids, administrators, and volunteers alike) cannot show any affection of any sort to students for fear of it being misinterpreted. And that is a shame really because sometimes a simple hug makes all the difference.

Then i guess the teachers there are really....well what a teacher should be ^_^ not that the teachers here arent, just maybe less dedicated since problems like this does not happened. I always like teachers :) but wouldnt want to be one myself, there's enough teachers already in the family XD
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  • Site Administrator

I was floored when I did my student teaching at an inner city school.  The teachers bought their own toilet paper because the school didn't buy enough to last the week.  How do we expect these kids to succeed when they're not provided even the basics? 

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A general thank you to all the teachers who worked with me and helped me became the person I'm today.

I'd especially like to thank my 9th grade english teacher who showed me that english was not an evil language (yes, yes I used to think that) and that a three years bad experience shouldn't define my future. 

Thank to her I learn to love English and without her I'd probably wouldn't be here and enjoy all those amazing stories. 

Thank to all teachers in the world who help raise and educated the future generations!

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