Teacher Appreciation Week: How to show appreciation
Teacher Appreciation Week happens to fall during what some teachers consider to be the craziest time of year. With summer fast approaching and year-end testing, teachers and students alike are ready to be done. It can be hard to find the motivation to finish—and it’s often the time that teachers feel the least appreciated.
With so many outstanding teachers out there who go above and beyond for their students, we wanted to know when they felt the most appreciated. Here’s what they said:
Camille Gardner, a First Grade teacher at Crescent Elementary in Draper, Utah, says she most appreciates positive notes and emails from parents. “In general, I feel the most appreciated when I receive really awesome emails, and people say thank you for teaching their kids. You just don’t hear that very often. It’s usually ‘it’s the teacher’s fault’, or ‘my child is a saint’. It’s just nice to be told, ‘we really appreciate all that you do’.” Mrs. Gardner has been teaching elementary grades for 12 years.
Kalen Black, a first-year Early Childhood teacher at Walden School of Liberal Arts in Provo, Utah, says her students and their parents find ways to show her they appreciate her every day. “I’ve felt most appreciated by parents during Christmas and Teacher Appreciation Week. There are a few parents who go out of their way to make sure I know that they appreciate me throughout the school year, and that means a lot to me. I’ve had a few parents pull me aside and tell me how much they appreciate my class and how much they’ve seen their child grow and learn.” Some parents, she says, go above and beyond. “There’s one mom who knows my favorite drink from Sodalicious (a soda restaurant) and my co-teacher’s favorite drink from Jamba Juice, and brings them to us during weeks she knows are hard.”
It all seems to come down to knowing that, as a teacher, you made a difference.
“I always felt appreciated when I would get handwritten notes thanking me for something specific I did to help a student, or recalled a particular memory. Anyone can bring chocolate, but ‘thank you for helping me like school when I really hated it’ means so much more,” says Sunny Allen, who taught high school Psychology for 12 years before becoming a Special Education paraeducator at Baldwin High School in Kansas.
Mrs. Allen described a particularly meaningful note she received at the end of one school year. “The letter came from one of those kids I always worried about passing. Many of his class hours were spent watching swim videos.” The letter he wrote expressed his gratitude for Mrs. Allen’s compassion, goodness, and humor. “You’ve been through so many things in every stage of your life that you’ve developed a sense of empathy unlike anyone I know. As a student, I’ve been blessed to have had a teacher like you. As a person, I’m blessed to have had someone to talk to who I can count on to be in my corner, backing me up when no one else will.” Then, describing Mrs. Allen’s upcoming move, he said, “Good news for you is that good people are in demand everywhere.”
Whether it be a handwritten note, a small gift, or even just a sincere ‘thank you’, let’s remind the teachers in our lives that we appreciate them and everything they do.
