Showing Appreciation for Teachers
A recent article published in the Journal of the American Educational Research Association reported that teachers across the world feel undervalued and unappreciated. Teacher Appreciation Week is May 6-10 this year, and we encourage parents to show appreciation to teachers for their continued dedication to teaching our kids. This year we will look at some ways that parents can show gratitude to teachers throughout every school year.
The Best Gifts for Teachers
One way we can send a big thanks to educators is by helping our kids view all teachers with great respect. A powerful strategy for achieving this goal involves allowing our kids to overhear us talking positively about their teachers. You’ve probably noticed your children’s eyes glazing over as you’ve tried to lecture them about some essential truth. In contrast, you’ve seen how closely they listen when they see that you’re trying to have a private conversation! Experiment with this:
At least twice a week intentionally let your children overhear you saying something positive about their teachers. Do this for the rest of the school year.
All dedicated educators want to be appreciated for their hard work and long hours. It’s amazing to realize that teachers can take classrooms full of kids with different needs, abilities, behaviors, and troubles and turn them into high-powered learning teams. Teachers deserve to be appreciated for this miracle!
Another gift we can give them involves our own parenting. The most wonderful display of our appreciation is to send them students truly ready to be respectful, responsible, and eager to learn. No doubt this gift also benefits our children, who will rise to the top when equipped with such character attributes. In addition to letting our kids hearing our positive comments about their teachers, here is list of a few additional things you can do to help teachers help your kids succeed:
- Ensure that they are doing chores without reminders at home, so that they know how to do assignments without reminders at school.
- Allow very little time with technology, including video games, texting, surfing the web, watching videos, television, etc. These activities make it more difficult for our children to remain calm and content at school.
- Have family meals together, where you enjoy each other and talk about all the things you’ve learned during the day.
Love and Logic has many resources that can help the teachers of your kids. Our books, curricula, and audios for educators can help them truly manage their classrooms with ease, which will allow them to focus on their passion—teaching and instilling the love of learning in your kids.
Dr. Charles Fay