By: Kathy S. Thompson, NBCT
Central Hardin High School
This morning a student handed me a plastic bag containing two cookies with a note attached. The note read, “You’re a smart cookie. Thank you for your hard work as a teacher.” The cookies were crisp and tasty, a welcome treat on a busy day in my classroom. The sentiment expressed was thoughtful. But I don’t continue to dedicate myself to teaching in order to receive words of praise or thanks or even cookies. I teach because I have faith that what I do each day matters.
While I like the good feelings that a pat on the back gives me, I am more encouraged when I see a student struggle with a difficult concept over and over and not give up because I don’t give up encouraging him, when I see a student become annoyed at my insistence that she come to class on time and then notice that she starts showing up early every day, when I push a gifted student just that little bit further and see him smile with pride when he achieves excellence beyond what he thought he could achieve, when I listen sympathetically to a student confess to me that she is trying to take on the role of mother in a family wrecked with emotional pain. My daily interactions with my students, both academic and personal are what drive me to continue to teach with renewed dedication.
I will admit that I like to be appreciated. We all do. But I know that I don’t have to hear words or read notes or eat cookies to know that what I do as an educator every day matters to my students. I just have to look around at the students in my classroom to know that I am needed. Still, the empty cookie bag and card are tacked to the bulletin board beside my desk as a daily reminder for those few times when I may be tempted to think that what I do doesn’t matter.
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