Not too long ago, I saw a post on FB about a teacher from the elementary school I attended. I think it was their birthday. Or maybe death. I can’t remember. Either way, this teacher was to be honored, apparently.
It happened to be a teacher I loathed in school.
The reason I was so upset with the post is that the person posting it basically said that this teacher SHOULD be honored BECAUSE she was a teacher and it was her birthday (or death).
I was thinking…um….no. No, she shouldn’t. Only people that LIKED her or RESPECTED her should be honored.
Reasons I didn’t like certain teachers in school include being talked down to, having no patience, embarrassing me for not understanding, and just flat-out being mean. There really are only a handful of teachers from my school days who were decent human beings and good teachers.
So I thought that day when I saw the post: Why should I honor that teacher when I didn’t like her? She was horrendously mean to my classmates and a terrible teacher. She was mean and miserable.
No, I don’t believe we have to honor someone just because they’re a teacher. Honestly, I’d never be a teacher because I don’t have the patience to teach, and I applaud those who do. I applaud GOOD teachers. PATIENT teachers. KIND teachers.
A teacher should be those things and more. They should be someone a student feels comfortable approaching to ask a question or get help, whether it be schoolwork or issues at home, or classmate bullying.
I know some wonderful teachers, and there should definitely be more of them.
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Teaching is one of the hardest professions out there. There are some amazing teachers and there are some who should not be working in that career at all. I agree. If you are nasty to students and unapproachable and just plain not nice as a teacher, you should not be praised just because of your title. Do we praise doctors that have a horrible bedside manner? I do not, as that is just as important to me as their skill. Let’s praise the ones who work hard for our students. I am speaking as a former teacher, one whose husband is a teacher, one whose daughter is studying to be a teacher and one whose sister is a teacher!
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