Teachers are the ones interacting with the kids every day — those very individual, often vulnerable young people at the ideal center of a school’s focus. And not merely interacting with, but guiding, hearing, interpreting, counseling, correcting, encouraging, alloparenting, and instructing.
Teachers’ names and faces are the ones kids remember as they move through school and into their adult lives.
So if schools want to serve kids, let’s face it, what’s good for teachers is good for schools.
What do they need more of to help them keep steering the ship/directing the show/supplying the camp?
1. “More engaged parents at Conference time.” As partners in the education mission, guardians should be a teacher’s greatest allies, ideally part of a supportive larger community.
2. “Hearing answers other than ‘no time for that — we’re testing.'” Assessments keep snowballing and not only detracting from learning, but also hampering teacher initiative. The good news is that the issue is part of the national discourse and seems too large to remain unanswered for long.
3. “Not hearing ‘what are we doing?’ right after giving instructions.” The classroom’s perennial bane.
4. “More books that fit the budget.” Adams Book Company makes it easy for teachers to get books at a great price, as it has for many years. As expression of our appreciation of the heroic work of teachers, order $75 or more (after discount) this week (through May 8, 2015) using the code TRUEHERO and receive free shipping!
Adams Book Company 