Teacher Appreciation: Secrets from the Classroom

This isn't something that I came into teaching knowing. I will be honest. I was a horrible teacher my first few years of teaching. I had it all wrong. I placed importance on teaching and getting what I needed to get done. I didn't consider students' emotional needs. I was ok with my students fearing me. (I am ashamed of that now.) I don't really know what I was thinking but I thought being strict was the way to get things done.  I look back on those years and am so glad that my heart changed, I have one special little boy to thank for that.

One day, I was playing a sight word game with my students and I noticed that the more I praised this one little boy, the more he wanted to try. Even if he'd gotten the word wrong. The next day, he asked if he could play the game again. I kept praising him after every word. By the end of the week, this little boy, who normally only memorized 3 of 10 words, now knew all 10! What had changed? Certainly, it was the same little boy. I realized it was the way I was interacting with him that was changing his beliefs about himself and in turn changing how he performed. I will never forget how much he beamed when I gave him a little certificate at the end of the week for knowing all 10 words. Guess what? I didn't stop with one student. I was on to something. If it worked with him, would it work with others? The sight word game became an experiment for me. And boy, did I learn a lot!

That sight word game taught me a great lesson. A teacher's attitude can make all the difference. What a teacher says can make or break a student.

Now, my first priorities as a teacher are my students! Years from now they will not remember what specific lesson I taught them (or high frequency word), but they will remember how I made them feel. I want my students to always feel loved and cared for. I want them to leave my room knowing they are special, that they are somebody important and that I truly believe they can be successful in school and in life. When I was in the classroom, we had a classroom mission statement that we would say every day after the flag salute.

We are scholars and we are champions.

When we come to school, we're ready to learn and give our best.

Our teacher believes in us and we we believe in ourselves.

We know, we can do anything.

If we make a mistake, it's ok.

Mistakes help us learn too.

We just, try again.

We will be friends with each other.

We will encourage each other and help each other.

We will build each other up!

We are  (school name) scholars and we are champions!

Here's a picture of it hanging over my whiteboard but I apologize for the pour quality.

I realize this isn't a tip and it's not something you can just do. It's something you truly have to believe! But I do have a strong passion for it and it really is the secret to how I've made such an impact with students and why students that come to me are successful.

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