I hope you know we appreciate you, even if we don’t say it enough.
Written last October 5, 2020
Dear Teacher,
First, Happy Teacher’s Day! You are not appreciated enough, and you deserve more attention and encouragement than you get. You mold the lives of your students, be it on the screen or face to face.
Dear Teacher,
I hope you recognize that what you do each day counts. I hope you make every waking moment worth teaching. The pandemic has caused drastic changes in your life. Your bags under your eyes show you are tired. The mental toll of being surrounded by a rampant illness is stressful enough, and teaching in an unfamiliar setting drains the energy out of you.
I won’t tell you you can do it. Because let’s face it, most of us are barely holding on. We’re at the edge of the cliff, with no one to save us. The tips of your fingers are hardly bearing the weight of our responsibilities, deadlines, projects, and our students.
It’s not easy being a teacher. It never was in the first place.
Dear Teacher,
Please remind yourself to take a break. You’re a teacher. A human being. That’s it. You’re not a superhero. You are not Atlas struggling to hold the world beneath your shoulders. Allow yourself, force yourself, to pause and take a breathe. Watch that movie that’s been on your watch list for forever. Read that book you bought but never opened because of the lesson plans you had to do. Paint that canvas that has been stuck in your head for weeks. Work can wait. Destress yourself.
I see you’re crazy worried for your students. But please worry yourself too. Ask yourself the same question you’re asking silently to your pupils.
How is your home life? Are you facing any problems? Do you stare at your screen too much? Is your mental health deteriorating? Are you still able to move your body?
Please take care of yourself. How will you take care of your kids when you’re at your worst?
Dear Teacher,
I know you’re trying your best. I notice you seldom get enough sleep with the deadlines and new technological tools you have to learn. I understand despite the dilemmas you are in now, you still face your children each day with a smile. Teacher, you may not realize it, but they appreciate you so much. Their lives won’t be the same if you weren’t their teacher.
Dear Teacher,
I hope you know what you do now, counts.
I hope you make each moment count.I hope you know we appreciate you, even if we don’t say it enough.
I hope you make time to pause, breathe, and rest.
I hope you don’t give up.
Dear Teacher, happy Teacher’s Day.
From, your fellow hope-filled Teacher.
