Peacock Cards: education

Monday, October 05, 2015

Today is World Teachers' Day 2015

Today is World Teachers' Day for 2015. I couldn't possibly let the day pass without paying tribute to teachers, especially because my own beautiful daughter is a teacher and has been for the past 15 (this is her 16th) years. She taught kindergarten for 14 years and last year changed to 3rd grade. This year she teaches 3rd grade again, and my lovely little granddaughter is a student in her class!
I also have a niece who is a teacher, and my sister in law is a teacher, and I am so proud of them all because each one of them takes their job seriously, cares so tremendously about their students, and is just in general a teacher who cares, works hard, puts in long hours, and comes up with amazing and interesting ways to teach.
I know first hand how much my daughter puts into her kids and her classroom. I went into her classroom a couple times this summer with her and it just amazed me how well thought out her classroom is. There is nothing in her classroom that wasn't wiped down, updated, put into the spot they are in without a lot of forethought and planning as to what makes the classroom work best for everyone involved. Her classroom is bright and cheery, has so many educational games, posters, books, etc. I am so proud of her as last year being her first year of 3rd grade one would think her classroom library would be void of books, but amazing teacher that she is, she has scoured book orders, rummage sales, used book stores, new book stores, online, the Goodwill stores, etc. and her classroom library has hundreds of books that are third grade appropriate, all categorized by author or topic and all have been given the rating system and marked. (I admit I cannot remember the name of this rating system!)
Anyone who knows a teacher well knows that this notion of "they get the summer off" is a myth and not even close to being a reality. Many teachers, my daughter included, spend enormous amounts of time in the summer months in their classroom getting not only the room ready for the upcoming year, but the curriculum ready as well. Not only does she spend her time in the classroom, she spends hours after her children have gone to sleep looking online at sites like Teachers Pay Teachers and Pinterest and who knows where else for ideas, for sharing, for finding new, innovative ideas for teaching.
Another myth is that schools provide the items you see in your child's classroom. I cannot speak for all schools but I know in my daughter's case, except for the bare essentials like desks, construction paper, crayons, and pencils almost everything in that entire classroom was bought and brought in by her. She goes to the Teacher Store in Green Bay several times a year, she buys things online, from the dollar stores, from the big name stores, constantly needing something for the classroom or the students themselves. Yes, the school does have a list and each child is responsible for bringing in certain supplies, which they do, and her parents have been great about donating such things as extra pencils, crayons, kleenix, hand sanitizer, that sort of thing. That said, all of the posters, the decorations, the awards, stickers, stamps, name tags, learning games and toys, classroom wall borders, even most curriculum items are purchased by her. She even bought a document camera this year because she did not have one in the classroom!
And so, because I know what teachers do first hand, it is with sincere gratitude and thanks that I say Happy World Teachers' Day 2015 to all caring, hard working teachers not only in the U.S. but across the world! You are amazing!
I have been creating school, education, and reading designs for over ten years. Here are a few designs from my Teacher Store that I feel celebrate teachers and would also make a great gift to show appreciation for that teacher you know!