So this is what it's like to be a teacher. I wish I had known — really known — years ago.

        I would have run back to all those gentle women of my youth. I would have said something like, “Remember that time you said my nose-blowing technique was the best in first grade? Remember how you asked me to demonstrate? I never forgot that. Thank you for noticing.”

        Teachers notice everything, but they rarely get noticed back. This isn't the case for the rest of us. We may dislike our work at times, but at least there is feedback.

        Clients thank us, colleagues buck us up, bosses write encouraging notes. Even the occasional stolen idea is a form of compliment.

        Teachers, by contrast, must have infinite tolerance for delayed gratification.

        Little people aren't practiced in the art of social lubrication. They don't recognize all the efforts on their behalf. And no matter how many tests teachers give, they may never know which lessons really sank in.

Handling a handful
        My blast of reality came this winter at John G. Carlisle School in Covington, where I volunteered to help kids write their own newspapers.

        By the end, I was a wreck. Who knew nine children for an hour a week could be such a handful? I even shared my duties with the wonderful Elaine Demoret, a writing specialist with the school district.

        I can't imagine spending hours a day with three times as many kids. The work would never end.

        Take Danielle. She missed several days of newspaper club, and when she returned, every other child was getting their personalized “newspaper ID tag.”

        I promised Danielle I would bring her tag the next week. Then I went about the business of blundering through my life.

        On the night before the next club date, while trying to plan activities that would challenge some kids without frustrating the others, I thought about Danielle's tag.

        Would she even remember my promise, after a week of other excitements? Just in case, I made the tag about 11 p.m. and tucked it into my purse.

        The next day, Danielle spotted me in the hallway before club had even started.

        “Do you have my ID?” she asked.

Paying attention

        I am starting to recognize in real teachers the quality of conscientiousness for its own sake.

        Lori Gohs, another role model, recently asked me for tips on feature writing. She was trying something new with her fourth-graders at Beechwood School in Fort Mitchell, encouraging them to write lively features instead of dry reports.

        One young man had narrowed his interests down to the topic of “metal.”

        “How am I going to help that little one?” Ms. Gohs asked me, but she was really asking herself.

        She knows the importance of her job. All her students are treated like potential Hemingways.

A little raise

        Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton has just proposed a 2.7 percent salary increase for teachers next year, to keep pace with inflation.

        Of course they should get the money. It's an insult to be talking about such a piddly raise in the first place.

        Money isn't enough. Good teachers aren't driven by salary.

        To all of them, we should be on our knees in thanks.

        Karen Samples can be reached at (859) 578-5584 or at ksamples@enquirer.com.
       

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