A Crucial Conversation

This is a short post, but a story I felt needed to be shared:

During 2nd Block, I was completing an Informal Observation of a Career teacher with decades (literally) of experience.  After the conclusion of the observation, as students were working collaboratively, we began discussing various teachers in regards to peer observations.

He mentioned someone in his department of which he spoke very highly of.  In fact, our conversation persuaded the following Tweet:

Craig Smith ‏@CSmithGoBlue

It's quite a compliment when a veteran teacher describes a beginning teacher as "someone who was born to teach". #edchat

I was in total agreement, as even though she is in her third-year, she is in the top 10% of those I have ever worked with or supervised in her given content-area.  If I were to create a staff from scratch, she would be one of the first teachers I would encourage to join.

Later in the day, I passed by the Beginning Teacher in the hallway and stopped her.  I told her about the compliment payed by the veteran teacher and how impressed I was for the veteran teacher to go out of their way to let me know.

She paused, looked at me, clearly emotional, and said, "Mr. Smith, I have been strongly considering if I really want to continue teaching." 

This is coming from a fantastic teacher; she's one of my "go to" teachers (previous post: Who Are Your Go To Teachers?).

More importantly, she followed this up with:

"I really needed to hear that.  Thank you."

Now that's a crucial conversation.

Thanks for reading and follow me @CSmithGoBlue.

CS

The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith     and do not represent the school or district in which he works.

#thankateacher = awesome

National Teacher Appreciation Week is concluding Friday.  Elementary, Middle, and High Schools across the country have been recognizing and praising their teachers in various ways.  School leaders, students, and PTSA's have provided meals and gifts as tokens of appreciation.  Most have simply sent personal messages to the teachers that have made a difference in their lives.

I have utilized Twitter throughout the week to provide simple thank you's to our teachers in various instances, sometimes with specific teachers in mind.  These have all taken the form of "________ = awesome. #thankateacher".

My online PLN has shared my acknowledgement through numerous Retweet's and Favorite's.  The best part is the diversity of WHO has been responding, ranging from principals and teachers to former students of mine now in college.  This has motivated me to do the following:

I am asking my Twitter folks to reply to my post with their own "When a teacher _______ = awesome. #thankateacher", filling in the blanks with their own characteristics of great teachers.  I will be doing my best to retweet every response that I receive tomorrow (Friday, May 11).

Please feel free to to post message comments at the bottom instead of taking your post to Twitter.

I will be adding all of the responses here throughout the day and weekend:

Make sure to respond to one of my tweets and include the hashtag #thankateacher

(blue indicates my own)

When a teacher advocates for respect and equality = awesome.


When a teacher comes early and stays late = awesome.


Teachers that provide remediation to students during their planning period = awesome.


Teachers writing letters of recommendation for students, even when it was requested at the last minute = awesome.


Teachers providing a safe environment to a student, when they won't have one anywhere else = awesome.


Great coaches who are also great teachers, since both involve teaching, just a different environment = awesome.


Teachers who send a quick email or place a call to inform parents of something positive = awesome.


Teachers looking out for each other and truly working as a TEAM = awesome.


Teachers who aren't afraid of failure when implementing new instructional strategies = awesome.


Teachers arriving early (really early) or staying late (sometimes really late) for tutoring or test re-takes = awesome.


Teachers taking ownership of their students' learning and growth = awesome.


The teacher/teachers alumni want to see when they visit the school = awesome.


When a college student realizes why their teacher pushed them so hard in high school = awesome.


Teachers giving their students options for projects/assessments = awesome.


Genuine enthusiasm displayed while teaching = awesome.


When staff members (non-teachers) still find ways to teach students in other capacities = awesome.


Teachers who teach every day like they will be formally observed = awesome.


Teachers that consistently maximize instructional time = awesome.


When a teacher makes accountability a way of life rather than just for a student's instructional year = awesome.


When a teacher teaches a student who later becomes a celebrity and gets on VH1 for an interview = awesome.


When a teacher allows students to learn by searching for their own answers (and they like it!) = awesome.

When a teacher takes the time to also take the role of counselor/parent = awesome.

When a teacher teaches WITH former students = awesome.

When a teacher goes the extra mile to communicate with a parent = awesome.

When a teacher buys shoes for a kid = awesome.


When a student wishes a former teacher Happy Mother's Day = awesome.

________________________________________________________________

Please at least take a moment to thank someone who dedicated their career to teaching.  Thank you to every educator, everywhere.

Thanks for reading and follow me via Twitter @CSmithGoBlue.  Also, a big thank you to Ann Doss Helms (@anndosshelms) of the Charlotte Observer for including this post in her blog.

CS

The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith and do not represent the school or district in which he works.

(I always put this disclaimer in my posts, but this time, I hope the opinions are shared by ALL employers!)