Of All Stars, Moonbeams, Star Fish & Appreciation for Teachers

This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week and on Monday night Fairfield University hosted its annual celebration of Student Teachers and Teaching. What made it extra special was having CT Teacher of the Year, 2017, Lauren Danner with us. She is a science teacher at North Branford High School. It is an evening of shouting out to cooperating teachers, supervisors, faculty, and our students who completed their semester in front of K-12 students.

I wrote "Cheers for the Artists We Call Teachers" three years ago to applaud the great work of educators. It's a short op-ed that got a lot of air play (and I was proud when Diane Ravitch tweeted it to all of her followers - those of us who advocate and understand the profession need to be vocal about those who criticize it and undermine it with for-profit, industrial reasons). I will forever bow my head with respect for any and all who have chosen the teaching profession. I continue to be filled with admiration for the work that they do. That, we do.

It saddens me sometimes that we can't do more to show appreciation for the massive time and energy it takes to do a phenomenal job in our schools. Teachers are used to being under-resourced, over committed, and emotionally wrapped with the ups and downs of the profession. You give a teacher a $100 for their classroom and they can stretch those bills to do amazing work. There are few ticker tape parades or red carpets for educators, however (and the vast majority understand this when they enter the profession - they do it with a commitment for the public good and for the relationships they build with students and their futures). This is what the National Writing Project taught me (well, invested in me) and I'm recalling my "three stanzas for 40 years" post from three years ago when they asked me to guest blog).

Those of us in the profession are accustomed to high-fiving one another in the most economical way (it's like feeding an entire class of seniors before graduation - PANCAKES to the rescue: cheap, cheap, cheap...I have fond memories of the Perfectly Pointless Post-Portfolio Pre-Prom Pancake Parties in Louisville, Kentucky...out of my pocket, and all fed frugally).

On Monday night, I did what little I could to share my appreciation for the student teachers, cooperating teachers, fellow faculty, and supervisors by handing out a gladiola bulb (75 for $6.99) wrapped in a bag with two beads: either a star, or a moon, or a starfish (strings 25 beads are 3 for $9.99 at A.C. Moore, bags are $4.99 for 100, and ribbon happened to be two rolls for 50 cents - ask my mom, I know how to shop and get the most from my money).

Here's the brief version of the story behind the small gift I handed out,

When I first started teaching, my senior students mentored incoming kindergarten kids. The little ones were called the All Stars, and a little boy looked up to me and asked, “If we are All Stars, then what are you?” I told him we were the senior class and he replied, “No you’re not. You’re the Moonbeams. And YOUR Mr. Moonbeam!”   

That began the story of the Moonbeams and the All Stars (a children’s book that received mild publication in our school as we read it each yer to our big and little buddies).  Yes, I became Mr. Moonbeam and that identity has a tremendous place in my heart.

Long story short. 

I’m sure you’ve read the tale of the boy and the star fish. I know that many teachers who blog rant about how much they hate that story, but I was introduced to it by a special human being after he graduated. He wanted me to know that my class gave him hope for the world when he wanted to give up. He was thankful I kept throwing him back in the water. He shared the story with me as he was getting ready to graduate and I've used the tale from time to time since.

Each of us as educators have perennial stories like this -  reminders in our careers of why we do what we set out to do. That is teaching. Each spring, when you want to throw in the towel and spend a majority of your time cursing the Gods for your occupational choice, you have to remind yourself that after cold and harsh winters, the flowers begin to bloom again. As are perennials, so are the rituals of teaching. With the sun and the rain comes reminders of what is most beautiful in life. The investments we make in our students.

It's a simple metaphor: a bulb, a star, a moon, & a starfish - and the hope I have during Teacher Appreciation Week every year. I often joke with my students that teaching is like emptying the ocean with spoon, except they give you fork. It's also a profession where your hands get tied, your mouths are taped shut, and your ankles are shackled, but you're asked to swim across an Olympic-size pool in record time.

BUT, I can't imagine a better, more rewarding way to spend a lifetime. We, the educators of the world, simply need to applaud the work of one another. We need to share our stories and educate those who don't teach about what it takes to do what we do. We must promote the profession for what it is - career-professionals who invest in the future. We are the wisdom warriors and we should be proud.

HAPPY TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK!

With this post, I'm off to provide professional development in schools.