We talk a lot about how important a teacher’s work is, but we don’t often take the time to think about how much of themselves they put in their work. Let’s take a minute to look at some facts about teachers and how our teachers put in hard hours every day to help ensure all students’ quality education under their charge. Here are 10 facts about teachers that make us appreciate their work more.
1. Teachers Become Teachers because They Care About Education
There is an unhealthy and incorrect misconception that school teachers choose their profession because they aren’t smart enough to do anything else or find more lucrative work. While your average teacher’s salary is incredibly low, most people do not choose to become teachers because there isn’t anything else they can do.
Most teachers became teachers because they care about education. They understand how important it is to prepare each student for the real world they will have to face in years to come. These are teachers passionate about teaching and education, truly care about their students, and are willing to do a challenging profession, even when it doesn’t reward them financially.
2. Teachers DO NOT Only Work During School Hours and Get Summer Off
Another misconception that even parents fall prey to is the idea that teachers can do outside classroom time. Most public school teachers spend a good deal of their time planning lessons, coming up with ways to prepare students for standardized testing, thinking about getting parents more involved with their children’s education, and more.
Not only do teachers spend years obtaining the skills and qualifications they need to become teachers, but they also spend a lot of the so-called free time researching new types of lesson plans, how to enhance student engagement, and more.
The summer isn’t a time where a teacher gets to rest and relax. Summer is often spent preparing lesson plans for the next year, engaging in professional development activities, and trading tips with other teachers to provide the best possible experience for every student. Schools don’t provide this assistance; teachers must seek this out on their own.
3. Teachers Want the Best for Their Students
Teachers want the best for all their students. Nobody should become a teacher if they don’t truly care about kids and feel passionate about education. Schools don’t often get the resources they need, and teachers do their best to make do with what resources they do have. They often spend part of their meager salary to ensure that their students get the best possible educational experience, even if the schools do not provide these resources themselves.
4. Collaboration is Key
A teacher cannot do their duty alone. It takes collaboration with other teachers and administrators that can all come together to share tips, experience, and more.
5. Teachers Have Outside Lives
It seems that many people, in particular, don’t think about the fact that teachers do have lives outside of school. Many teachers have their own families that they must care for during their off time. Teachers struggle with the same issues as anyone else. They have good days, and they have bad days. This makes sense because they are human beings, just like anyone else. Teachers want an understanding of the difficulty implied with playing so many varied roles in their daily lives.
6. Teacher Are Constantly Learning
Teaching isn’t one of those professions that you get an education for and then are done. Teachers must constantly learn new techniques to help meet the needs of each student’s unique needs. Educational standards change over time, and it is up to teachers to make sure those changes are reflected in lesson plans.
7. Issues with Unresponsive Parents
Parents play a unique and important role in their children’s learning experience, and it is a role that is almost as important as the teacher’s. The problem for many teachers is that not all parents want to engage with the learning process. Maybe they are too busy, or they think that the teacher should be able to do it all regarding their children’s education. But the fact remains that a parent who refuses to engage in their children’s learning process makes a teacher’s job a lot harder than it needs to be.
8. Teachers Care About the Individual Needs of Students
Teachers want to give each student the attention they need to get the most out of their lessons. Each student learns differently and at a different pace, making teaching many students a challenge. Teachers may not always have the time or resources they need to give each student the focus they need to stay up with the rest of the class. This means that students in large-sized classes don’t get the opportunities students in smaller classes get. This is also why so many teachers rail against the ever-increasing size of individual classes.
9. Many Teachers Don’t Like Standardized Testing
Chances are, the person teaching your children doesn’t like all the rigorous standardized tests any more than you or your children do. Many teachers feel like these take away valuable time that could be spent working with individual students and helping them gain a deeper understanding of the topics they are being taught. Constantly having to drill in basic facts and figures to prepare students for standardized tests makes a teacher’s job much harder, reducing the personal interaction they can spend with students.
10. Teachers Are Undervalued and Often Overworked
The classroom is an essential part of any child’s learning and socialization experience. The average teacher spends many hours outside of the classroom preparing lessons, obtain further education, meet with parents, and more, all to help foster a positive educational environment for every student.
One doesn’t become a teacher because it is easy work or pays well; they do it because their students are important to them, and they are willing to put in the time for each student to help them reach their potential. One of the facts about teachers that so often goes unnoticed is how much they give each student daily.
Let’s Appreciate Our Teachers More
Teachers work incredibly hard to ensure that their students get the best possible education and thrive to the best of their abilities. We don’t often think enough about how much work and effort goes into teaching. How much time, effort, and even further education are required for a teacher to give their students the best possible education during the school year. This means many hours spent – outside of school hours – planning sessions, figuring out how to prepare students for ever-increasing amounts of standardized testing, and more.
Being a teacher is hard, and teachers get far too little pay and appreciation for what they do. Teachers want the best for their students, and they do this on a low salary and a public that often fails to appreciate all their efforts.
In Conclusion
One of the most important facts about teachers is that teachers are incredibly dedicated and hardworking professionals who care a great deal about teaching and their students. One does not get into the teaching profession to make a lot of money. Teachers are notoriously underpaid and overworked. It is one of the most important jobs globally, yet it is also one of the most underappreciated and overlooked. We say we care about teachers, but we don’t see, to put in a ton of effort to better their lot.
Many don’t appreciate the effort and extensive planning and preparation teachers go through to ensure that their students get the best possible educational experience possible. They want their students to succeed, to thrive, and to excel. Teachers are willing to spend their off-hours researching new strategies, new teaching techniques, coming up with new ways to make topics more interesting or engaging for their students.
This is why they put in so much effort, even though it is largely invisible and overlooked. Freetime after school each day spent preparing lessons and grading papers. The hours spent during summer going to professional development opportunities and working with other educators to create the best possible experience for all students.
We need to show our teachers our appreciation for all they do and their important role in society. We have long claimed to understand and value teachers. But it is time to move from lip service to proposing and supporting changes that can make a teacher’s life a little easier. Showing teachers appreciation for all that they do is free, making a world of difference. Teachers don’t often get the love they deserve for the vital role they play in society.
