Thanks To Our Teachers

Before work today, I had to stop by my daughters school for the bi-annual parent teacher conference.Oh, how I remember when I was a student, and my parents attended those meetings. Funny, but even though I usually "forgot" to bring home the note about the conference, my parents already seemed to know about these meetings anyway. Wonder why that was?

Fortunately, I never have to worry about what the teachers will be telling me about my daughter's progress, since it's well known, that she didn't inherit her father's educational bad habits.

As I was waiting to meet with her teachers, I was again reminded about how tough the job really is.  Basically, you have young people coming into your class everyday, and it's up to you to try to get through to them in a meaningful, positive way.

I can't imagine five days a week, of standing in front of a group of teens, trying to cut through all of the drama that seemingly surrounds their daily lives and actually communicate with them.  From what I overheard at the conference, it appears that many parents are already combating that issue at home. Again, I thought to myself,  it's our job as parents, to prepare our children for school, and that includes being respectful, and ready to learn.  I think some parents forget that point and believe it's up to our educators to bring that out in our youth.

Like everything else these days, it seems that education is bogged down with more red tape and paperwork than should be required. I fear that precious class time gets eaten up with rules and regulations that administration should be handling.

So, I salute and thank those educators who go the extra mile to connect with their students.  Even when it involves extra time and effort to make a difference.