#iKnowaTeacher…

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! While those of us who have the privilege of working with phenomenal teachers on a daily basis may have planned a little extra something extra to show our gratitude this week, it’s become apparent that many across our nation display an unfortunate, somewhat negative perception of teachers, with little regard for their tireless work and care they show our children each day.

Bill Ferriter shared this post with me, written by John Holland, #iKnowaTeacher -A Teacher Appreciation Meme, and I share it here in the hopes that we can begin to flood the Twitterverse with snippets of recognition for the teachers in our lives. As John writes,

The Gallup poll describes that 77% of Americans gave their local schools a grade of A or B while 18% of respondents assigned schools nationally a similar grade. What this poll tells me is that the American public has been swayed by a narrative. There are all kinds of reasons for statistics like this and why we shouldn’t trust them. The explanation for this graphic that I favor is that there is a mask  that the public sees when it thinks of the collective idea of teacher but when the public is asked about their child’s school or teacher, they see specific faces of specific people.

Everyday for the next week I will post on twitter about some specific teachers I know and the valuable, caring, life changing, and important work they are doing. Of course there are negative examples of teachers too but, these examples always get attention. I want to change the focus, the narrative. Tell me about the teachers you know that are working to give students the education they deserve.

I encourage you to post stories of those specific teachers who have touched your lives and the lives of others. For those of you that are not Twitter-users, please make the time to call, email, write a letter, or speak personally to a teacher who has changed your life and/or the life of a child. Let’s help change the narrative….

#iKnowaTeacher who encouraged his students to summarize their learning through artistic expressions, helping the students make connections with the content.

#iKnowaTeacher who allowed her students’ desire to change the world transform their classroom practices for the year.

#iKnowaTeacher who refused to allow his students to sit passively in class, but rather engaged them in discussion about chemistry, keeping them on their toes and setting the bar high, always expecting more.

#iKnowaTeacher who planned a day of positive thinking to celebrate the beautiful gifts and talents of every child.

#iKnowaTeacher whose love of literature shone through in every lesson, which sparked an interest in the same in his students.

#iKnowaTeacher who drove his government students to an off-site location on a tip that President Clinton would stop there after his visit at a local university; who helped them make a giant sign to attract the President’s attention, and who smiled alongside the students as the official White House photographer snapped the group’s photo with the President.