A SALUTE TO GREAT TEACHERS

 “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell, where his influence stops.”

– Henry Brooke Adams

Qualities of a great teacher: Ingenious, Patient, Creative, Sense of humor, Tough, sets High Expectations, Determined, Passionate, Demonstrative, Selfless, Energetic, Consistent, Generous, and Compassionate.   

This is the week/month/that should be a year of Celebrating Teachers. Teachers affect everyone’s lives…every surgeon, police officer, actor, lawyer, engineer, mother, father, store clerk, businessperson, artist, programmer, banker, politician, humanitarian, athlete, musician, naturalist, professor, ecologist, environmentalist, astronaut, educator, dreamer, visionary, strategist, and anyone from any profession were all positively affected by a great teacher and some more than one in a lifetime.

It is the teaching profession that should be the most highly regarded of all professions in society, worldwide…but that is not the case. In America today- teachers are among the lowest paid, least respected, most disregarded professionals.  Teachers don’t always get their just due. Of course, like any profession there are some who may not deserve our gratitude, but that’s not what we are celebrating this week. This we are celebrating the Great Teachers and there are so many.

We count on teachers to set high expectations for all students and work to bring out the best enabling every child to reach their highest potential. Teachers who have this as a special gift deserve to be treated well, respected, and honored, not just this week, but every day.

These are the teachers who

Wipe their student’s tears

Cheer them on from the stands

Encourage them to be their very best

Help them believe that they can shoot for the moon

and ride on the stars

Answer the questions that no one else will

Maintain high standards in the midst of less than perfect communities

Cause their students to think, nurture a love of reading and a desire to discover in them

Are sensitive to the needs of every child in the classroom

And encourage their students to be compassionate and sensitive to human difference

Provide help when their students' resources are limited

Pay fees for them, cloth them, keep snacks in their drawer for the late afternoon

Have a listening ear when a secret must be told

Show students the world from inside the walls of the classroom

Give them 'mirrors' through the the lives of people from all cultures so they can see the best of themselves

And ‘stained-glass windows’ to see the best of the world

Laugh with them and cry for them

Hold them down to protect them from the dangers ahead

And then, let them go to fail, grow, and make new discoveries

Believe their stories, laugh at their jokes

Praise their projects, pat them on the back
Read their papers again and again

Dance with them, play ball with them,

Make their students sing on key, stand up straight, sit still..

And then, set them free to run and explore..

And at the end of the day…prepare themselves

To start all over again.

Teachers do indeed affect eternity. Aside from parents, Teachers are the most influential people in the lives of our children and youth. For all the great teachers of the world — we salute you!!

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This post is dedicated to all my favorite teachers: Miss Thomas, Mrs. Evans, Miss Simmons,  Mr. Wright, Mrs. Harewood, Mr. Miller, Miss Greif, Mr. Hocheiser, Mr. Caputo, Mrs. Bartlett, Mr. Lee, Ms. Brown, Mr. Woodard, Mr. Williams, Mr. Art Miller, Dr. Perry, Dr. Dance, Dr. Leslie, Dr. Patton, Dr. VanTassel-Baska, and.. my mother, Mrs. Mildred ‘Bay’ Smith Lawson.

These teachers have affected eternity, their influence is never ending! 

Joy Lawson Davis, ed.d. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.