Teaching Tip #172

Teacherscribe’s Teaching Tip #172

Core value #1 - Our work matters.  And it matters every day.

That core value was driven home this week when prior to my last block, my phone rang. I was out in the hallway for hall duty, but Alex, from my fourth block, answered the phone and explained that the person would call back in a few minutes.

And she did.

It was the mother of a former student who graduate in 2002.  As soon as she said the name, though, the student (and her amazing writing) came right back to me.  She is now living in California and working for an Ag business.  Her mother just wanted to let me know (and I’m not sure why . . . maybe it was because of teacher appreciation week) that I had an impact on her daughter.

The mother went on to explain that in high school her daughter faced a lot of issues, but she would come home and talk about how encouraging I was and how I supported her in her writing and, most importantly, I allowed her to express herself honestly in her writing.

Now, the mother just wanted to take a moment and thank me and to tell me to keep up the good work.

As soon as I thanked her and hung up the phone, I realized yet again just how much our work matters.  How it matters every day.  How it matters to every kid.  Period.