I have a guest post for you today by Sara. It's a great article, and as a former teacher I can tell you, she's right about this:
If your children are in daycare or school, they
spend some 8 to 10 hours a day with a teacher--thousands of hours by
the time they reach the age of 18. These relationships are extremely
important and formative to our children. In his 2012 State of the Union
Address, President Obama pointed to a recent study that found teachers not only impact our children’s
academic success, but also their earning potential and even chances
of becoming pregnant in high school.
Clearly, if we really
care about our children, we must care about their teachers. Unfortunately,
most teachers are under-appreciated and under-paid. As a society, we
place very high expectations on our teachers, but give them very little
in return. Sometimes we forget that
teachers are people too. Just as we like some coworkers and dislike
others—teachers like some students and dislike others. They
like some parents and dislike others. We don’t want to think that
about teachers, but it’s just human nature.
Of course, there are cases
of abuse in daycares and schools—we’ve all heard those horror stories—but
what I’m talking about is something much more subtle than that.
• It’s the difference between a nursery teacher who just loves cuddling
and rocking your baby, and one who does it because it’s part of her
job.
• It’s the different between
the teacher who mediates fights when students tell, and the teacher
who notices your child crying in the corner, being tease, or bullied
and takes proactive action.
• It’s the difference between
the teacher who offers required tutoring once a week, and the teacher
who will email you back in the evening to explain how to multiply fractions
so you can help your child with homework.
How
we treat teachers has a direct correlation to how much they enjoy their
job and the quality of their relationship with our children. This is
why I believe parents should treat daycare and school teachers very,
very well. After all, they care for our children when we are not watching.
I
don’t know about you, but I want my children’s teachers to like
them, look out for them, and enjoy spending time with them. Here are
a number of very practical ways to show teachers how much you appreciate
them.
Volunteer
and bring in supplies. Teachers have very practical needs. Most take their job home with
them at night and buy at least some of their own classroom supplies.
Volunteering for field trips and other classroom tasks is always appreciated.
Also, donating supplies to your child’s classroom are a tangible way
to help the teacher.
Give
nice Christmas gifts. I’ve always made it a practice to give my children’s teachers
$50 gift cards for Christmas. This may seem extravagant to some, but
for me it is money well spent. Of course, there are nice gifts at every
price range. Throughout the year look for items on sale, or use coupons
at NerdWallet. Sometimes the Parent Teacher Organization distributes information
about what teachers like which can be helpful in finding the perfect
gift.
Practice
regular random acts of kindness. Everyone at my kids’ elementary school knows me as the mom who brings
the teachers coffee. I try to bring a fresh, hot cup of gourmet coffee
to each of my children’s teachers at least every couple of weeks.
Giving teachers flowers, for no reason in particular, is another nice
way to brighten their day and the classroom. If you use Proflowers
coupons you can get high quality flowers year round.
Remember,
building goodwill with teachers is not all about giving gifts. Perhaps
the most important things we can do is parents is treat teachers with
respect, especially in instances of conflict. Speak respectfully about teachers and support their classroom expectations.
When issues come up, be diplomatic and follow the school’s escalation
policies.
Teachers
are so important to our children’s lives. Invest some time in getting
to know them. Actively support them. Treat them very, very well.
