Saturday, August 21, 1999
Dear Teacher: Thank you in advance
BY KRISTA RAMSEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
This is an open letter to the millions of teachers out there who will be putting their names on the chalkboard next week, their pencils on their desks, and their hearts on their sleeves.
Dear Teacher:
You may not recognize this type of correspondence. It is usually in short supply in your mailbox and, even then, hidden under forms and rosters and all sorts of things done in triplicate.
This is a thank-you note. It comes with the sincere gratitude of thousands of parents who, a few times a year, sit back and count you among their dearest blessings. The rest of the time, they take you blissfully for granted.
To a child, a good teacher is worth her weight in Pokemons. No matter what schools of education say about “coaching” and self-guided learning, she is still the sun at the center of the classroom universe, the force that keeps restless planets moving in predictable orbit rather than spinning off to chaos.
When she is kind, her classroom becomes a haven of compassion, even for the child who looks, speaks or acts differently, and who up until now has been outside the circle.
When she is fair, her students learn about justice, equity and humanity without ever having to pronounce or spell the words.
When she is enthusiastic, her children learn a secret of the universe: that life is a delight for those willing to be delighted. It's amazing how far classroom walls can expand, how many rivers can be leapt and historical eras crossed when a teacher brings out her best tool, imagination.
Words to remember
There is no doubt you will change someone's life this year. A generation from now, someone will still quote your words around a dinner table, to children of their own. One afternoon, you will teach an inspired lesson and it will turn into someone's lifetime work. And surely you will say a kind word that you won't remember tomorrow, but that a hurting child will carry with him for life.
Thank you. Thank you for teaching the children we send to school with too many Happy Meal toys and too little sleep. Thank you for loving the children we send off in a grumpy mood, with too many stresses and too little breakfast. Thank you for raising proficiency scores, avocados from pits, classroom gerbils and children's spirits.
And thank you for cleaning up spilled milk, smeared glue, the contents of a nervous tummy, and the messes some of us parents have made of our children's lives.
And thank you for forgiving us.
For the times we send peanuts in the shell for lunch, forgetting that someone will have to clean up the mess. For the times we criticize you on the playground in front of all your students, and save our praise for the privacy of our dinner tables that night.
Pestering parents
And thank you for reminding us that not every child is Einstein, not every child needs to be Einstein, and that even Einstein had to learn to tie his shoes.
All of which does not mean that we will ever stop pestering you about little Harry's “potential,” or why Betsy didn't make cheerleader, or Winifred's chances at Harvard. We admit it. If you send home 15 spelling words, half of us will demand more and the other half will cry “Unfair!” and beg for less.
And, much as we admire you and are considering nominating you for sainthood, don't pass out peanuts for snack time, because our kids are allergic. Don't make them sit on the floor, because Jenny just got new slacks. And could you cut back on the nightly reading stuff, at least until soccer season is finished?
So welcome back. Have a great year. Godspeed. And thanks.
Krista Ramsey's column appears in The Enquirer on Saturdays. Write her at 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati 45202 or fax at 768-8340.
RAMSEY ARCHIVE
