Day 2: Give Thanks - A Shout-out to Teachers

Since the post I had planned for today fell through, you're stuck with my ramblings.

When I take stock of my life, and I  think about whom to credit for where I find myself in this big, bad universe, I keep coming back to teachers.

It was a fourth grade teacher who inspired me to go to college as a first generation student. Unfortunately, this was not while I was actually in fourth grade, but while I was an adult working as an Ed. Tech. I thought more than once that, had she been my fourth grade teacher, my life would have taken a different path. Thank you Ms. J.

It was my linguistics professor who taught me that cultural differences in grammar were not wrong as long as they were consistent. I am proud of where I came from, and when you ask me how I am, I will always answer, "I'm GOOD." I am fully aware that you expect me to say "well." You can take the girl out of the small town, but you can't take the small town out of the girl thank-you-very-much.

My husband was raised by teachers, professors really, and I think he turned out quite nicely. Now you know that he came by his interest in education honestly.

As a working mother, I counted on teachers to help raise my children. They embraced my family, even though doing so often meant extra work for them. They saw both of my girls off to kindergarten, and they even have a job waiting for Carrigain, should she want it some day. I will always be grateful for my Heidi's House family.

A teacher can make or break a school year for some children, especially those children who hang out on the periphery of the bell curve. A good teacher knows that belonging, community, kindness, and empathy are just as important as literacy and STEM.

This handwritten poster greeted us on Carrigain's first day of second grade:

So far in second grade, Carrigain has learned about First Americans and European settlers (she was appalled by the behavior of the latter), force and inertia, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., computer coding and cod (yes the fish), and she has learned that she is a valued member of her classroom. Thank you Ms. Deans. You will be a hard act to follow.

Be kind today - even when no one is watching.