If you were to ask a teacher today, what motivated you to get into the teaching profession? Chances are you would get a wide range of answers because we all come from different experiences. While some may say they were motivated by a teacher, coach or counselor in school, others may say they were motivated by wanting to make a difference in the lives of kids who aren’t getting what they had when they were growing up in school. They would say, they saw teaching as an opportunity to help the next generation to move forward in life and upward in their thinking. Looking at these responses, it’s obvious that thousands of our teachers today ranging from childcare to the collegiate level entered the profession of teaching to give children, teenagers, young adults and seasoned adults a great educational experience even in the midst of a current pandemic. Whether we know it or not, our teachers are our next set of frontline workers during the COVID-19 season. What a challenge we all have to share in with our teachers. That being said, the staff of Practice U want to express their gratitude to all our teachers in the countless neighborhoods and communities they work in.
Thank you for
- Your passion
- Your creativity
- Your patience
- Discipling my child(ren) when he or she needed it and making him or her practice repeating the work until it was mastered. It made my child more attentive to detail and aware of his or her mistakes.
- Teaching my child(ren) how to read in grades K to 3, practicing their ABC’s, vowel sounds, blended vowel sounds, consonants, blended consonants, CVC words, CVCV words, how to decode words by syllables, how to write a sentence and multiple sentences.
- Teaching my child(ren) the power in reading to learn in grades 4 to 6, using the reading comprehension strategies such as how to find the main idea starting with the topic sentence, how to infer as they look for context clues and transfer that skill set into writing powerful paragraphs, narratives, arguments filled with facts, examples, evidence, and critical thinking skills.
- Teaching my child(ren) how to think mathematically with confidence using step by step charts and hands-on manipulatives that perhaps you purchased because the school budget couldn’t afford it
- Teaching my child(ren) through hands-on science projects, science fairs showing the scientific method, and research to appreciate life science, earth science, physics, chemistry, and advance science.
- Teaching my child(ren) the history of the United States from the 1600’s to today and how my child(ren) can help change the social injustices, inequalities and systematic racism that exist in our communities for generations and through real life situations how an idea can turn into a bill and from a bill to a policy or law.
- Teaching my child(ren) to appreciate the arts and how it nurtures great artist that help build up our community, not tear it down.
- Teaching my child(ren) to appreciate the work ethic lessons learned in sports; the lessons that gives my child(ren) a clearer understanding of being a team player, eat right and be an example because the next set of kids, teenagers and many young adults are watching and learning from their actions.
- Teaching my child(ren) what it means to practice high MVP character, which stands for morals, values and principles.
Morals, knowing the difference between right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable behavior and language, or fair versus unfair treatment to another human being. In a nutshell, morals are the boundaries within our social norms. For example, "It is morally wrong to backtalk or insult your parent, teacher, coach or the referee and vice versa. It’s demoralizing when adults insult other adults or children.”
Values, living out the importance of a belief or behavior. For example, "It’s important to him that a female wear clothes that cover up her breast and buttocks. It’s important to her that a man wear his pants and a belt on his waistline to cover up his buttocks. We value our family and fun times. I value my life, respect, privacy, peace and being debt free, because it’s important to me. I also value a clean bathroom, clean kitchen and clean bedroom."
Principles, acknowledging the rules of life that guides a person's conscious and behavior. For example, "I don't try to hurt people, because I don't want to get hurt myself. I don't lie or cheat people because I don't like being lied to or cheated on." When we're taught these social norms or codes of conduct, it becomes the force field that keeps us civilized and working harmoniously.
In short, these are just some of the many lessons that our teachers, coaches, counselors and support staff have taught us; the building blocks for all of us to refer back to in our lives. Because of these countless lessons, this is also why we here at Practice U also believe, our teachers should be paid at the very least a starting salary pay of $100,000 annually. It makes no sense to be the primary and secondary teachers of all society and get paid less than lawyers, politicians, engineers, and doctors. Without our teachers, we would all fall behind. So, on behalf of the many students, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and foster parents we say, “Thank You” to our teachers. We appreciate your practice and helping us move forward towards self-improvement.
Practice is where it all begins. Tell us what you think.