At the holidays, teachers don’t expect lavish gifts but it is always nice to receive thanks for your hard work with students. When I was teaching, the best gift I ever received was a Christmas card from a parent thanking me for teaching her son how to read. Doesn’t get much better than that, though who can say no to a festive holiday sweater?
Don’t get me wrong—teaching is often challenging, frustrating, and really really hard. As a new teacher I spent my share of evenings crying while writing lesson plans. That said, I don’t think teaching is nearly as unpleasant as being a rat-catcher or proctologist for example, as a British journalist suggests. It’s disconcerting that some people think that teaching urban minority students is such a terrible disgusting task.
I do think however, that people often underestimate the challenge that teaching presents and it would be useful for federal, state, and local policymakers to spend more time in public schools than a photo-op walkthrough where the dog and pony show is in full swing. The emphasis today (rightly) is on data-driven decision making, but I think the value of first hand experience can’t be overestimated. Watch or lead a classroom for even an hour and I suspect you’ll learn more about the joys and challenges of teaching than countless hours of research can ever convey.
