“Being a teacher must be so nice. You get weekends and holidays off. You get to get home when your kids get out of school. You get the whole evening to do whatever you want.” This is the assumption about teachers. If you’re not a teacher you’ve probably thought this before. The reality is, being a teacher is so much more!

Being a teacher is a profession that people don’t praise enough. Now I’m not saying we’re gods but… we do teach the future of America. Teachers help build the foundation of the world. Without teachers you would be able to read this right now, some teacher helped lead you to read. Did you thank him or her? Chances are you didn’t even think about that till right now.

Teaching is such a profession that has a lot of pressure on. Parents are always telling teachers what is best for their student like we don’t already know. Teaching is always being graded off of how well a student did on a test, not how much they’ve grown over the year. Teaching is the profession that is picked on but never praised for the good.

Being a teacher is much more than bell to bell.

News flash! Teachers don’t get summers off. Teachers spend their summer redoing classrooms, working on curriculum, lesson planning. Getting information from previous teachers on your students. Attending professional development to become a better teacher to teach your student. They do all these wonderful things to help make your student have a better year! ………… and they do it unpaid!

Teachers make themselves always available to you by email or their phone numbers. They answer your questions in their free time because they care a lot about your student and they want to support you!

Teaching is coming in early and staying late. Teachers come in well before the students ever arrive in the morning to make sure everything is planned out to run smoothly for the day. Teachers stay late after school for meetings with students, and with parents.

Teachers spend their free time planning for their students. Teachers go home and they have to grade the papers from the day and enter them into the grade book. They have to plan the lessons for the next day. While teachers are working on things for their students, they are trying to have a life as well. They want to enjoy time with their families as well. But they choose to work on things for their students because they love them.

Being a teacher is much more than teaching children. Its showing children that someone really truly cares about them. It's being a safe person for a student to talk to if they are having problems. It's being a mother to all the students and keeping them safe. It's making sure all students are getting the access to the curriculum at the level the student needs. Its respecting parents when you know they should be doing more for their child. It's much more than simply teaching the students.

Teachers are like public figures in the community. Think about it, you look up your child's' teacher on social media to see what he/she is doing. When you see them at the store you look at what they are doing or how they are dressing. Being a teacher affects your social life as well. You must be careful how you act and dress in public. You have to watch what you put on social media. You are always “on” because you never know when you will see a parent or a student.

Being a teacher is so much more than walking in when the students get them and leaving as they ride away on the bus. Teaching is about giving your heart to the students and helping them grow into better people.

Teaching is a profession that can become your whole world. Teachers are always thinking about their students no matter how hard they try not to. They wonder how they will get those students to get better reading skills, wondering if that student will get his clothes washed. Teachers are constantly thinking about their students and how they can help them.

Teaching is beyond all the books you could ever read. Teaching is a profession that should be well respected. Teachers do so much more than what they are paid and expected to do because they truly care about their kids.

Thank a teacher today for all the extra work they put in for you or your student. Thank them for taking time away from their family to enter the grades so you can see how well your student is doing. Thank them for spending their weekends “off” working on a lesson plan to teach your student how to read. Thank them for thinking about your students all the time and what’s best for them.

Teaching is well beyond the school day, Thank your teacher today for being so amazing and going above and beyond for you and your student. Teachers choose to do this! They do it year after year because they want to impact the students and make them better people!

Teaching -

You laugh, you cry and you work harder than you ever thought you could. Somedays you’re trying to change the world and somedays you’re just trying to make it through the day. Your wallet is empty, your heart is full, and your mind is packed with memories of kids who have changed your life. Just another day in the classroom.