Dear Teacher,
You love what you do, but you needed to catch your breath, relax your body, rejuvenate your mind and refresh your soul. Summer may have flown by a little bit too quickly for you, but the call to teach is already tugging on your heart. You remember the faces and are anxious to see how they are doing. You have been worried about some of them because you know their life is difficult.
You are a hard worker. You have spent hours decorating your classroom in ways that will inspire your students’ minds. You’ve been working on creative lesson plans remembering that some children learn in different ways than others. You’ve prepared extra activities realizing that some of your students need challenged so they don’t become bored while others need extra help just to make it through. Your desks will soon be filled with so many unique individuals with so many different needs. You will be helping your pupils to discover that learning can be fun and that each person has different strengths and passions that will help them succeed.
You find great joy in the students who are eager to learn and eager to please you, but you also encounter students who will be too tired to focus, disinterested in what you are teaching or desperate for the attention of anyone who they can distract. Some students are a joy, and others will exhaust you before the end of the day. Yet regardless of what attitude each one brings into your classroom at the beginning of the year, you are determined to break through and inspire that student to have become a better person when your time with them is done.
Not only do you care about each student’s education, you also care about their whole well-being. You see the hurt in their eyes and know who needs a hug. You understand when students don’t have the supplies they need because their single mom is unable to shop after working all day and then trying to cook dinner, wash laundry and help with homework. You have asked if your friends and family have khakis that a student needs to wear for their chorus concert or their homecoming dance. You’ve quietly slipped deodorant or food items into a backpack when no one was looking. You’ve looked, you’ve listened, you’ve cared.
There have been days when your heart is overwhelmed in knowing the struggles that some of your students have. There have also been days of frustration when you’ve felt no one is listening, and you question if you can ever get through to them. You have faced parents who disagree with your teaching methods, your classroom rules or the grade their child was given on their exam. You have had people outside the classroom telling you how you need to do things when you are the one who works with the students on a daily basis and actually know what is best. I’m sorry to say that you will most likely have those days again this year.
You will work all day, go home to take care of your own family and then work into the night to prepare for the next day. You will purchase materials that aren’t covered in the classroom budget. Your mind will race some nights when you go to bed because you can’t stop thinking about the girl who keeps getting bullied or the boy who wears long sleeved shirts when it’s warm to hide the cuts on his arms. You will lie awake wondering how you can help a student who isn’t grasping an important concept. You will be physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted at times, but do not let yourself get discouraged. What you are doing is making a difference.
You will never know how far the influence you have on your students will go. Who knows what a student might figure out to improve technology when they finally understand an idea you’ve been teaching. You are inspiring future financial wizards, doctors, nurses, surgeons, policemen, firefighters, pilots, designers, scientists, engineers, musicians, artists, athletes, lawyers, writers…. You are even inspiring further teachers.
You are not only teaching them knowledge, you are teaching them to be responsible citizens. You are building them up and teaching them to build others up as well. You are pouring all that you have into the lives that will impact our future.
Let me assure you that your kindness will not be forgotten. I graduated high school more than 30 years ago, but I can remember every one of my teachers and something special about each one. I can remember tricks to spelling certain words, math shortcuts, different styles and paint mediums and songs as far back as kindergarten. I can remember Mr. Donaldson making history come alive for me after years of hating the class. I will never forget the kindness of Mr. Picket who comforted me when my grandpa died or the thoughtfulness of my math teacher, Mrs. Raney who recognized that I had asthma and told me to go to the doctor. I remember the smiles, I remember the hugs and I remember the encouragement. Your students will as well.
I am praying for you as school starts and asking God to give you wisdom, patience and peace and that the love and grace of Jesus would flow through you and be recognized by your students, their families, your colleagues and your bosses. I pray that on the days that you are overwhelmed, you would be encouraged in knowing that you are making a huge impact. You can never tell how far your influence will go, but be assured in knowing that you are making a difference each and every day.
So smile, hug, laugh, encourage, observe, teach and take great pride in knowing that you have one of the most important jobs there are.
Have a wonderful school year! May God bless you as you are a blessing to many!