4th Grade Survival Kit

Last summer, my buddy Sam's mother--who just retired from teaching--gave Kelly a bunch of teaching resources to help her prepare for her first year teaching. One of those was the "4th Grade Survival Kit".  It's such a great way to set the tone for the school-year. Feel free to use this in your classrooms, too!

The Role Teachers Play

In my first post I touched upon the fact that many teachers must grapple situations and circumstances that are so far from the actual act of teaching. I'm sure it's different for every teacher, but from my own experience as a SOT I've seen my fiancé come home exclaiming, "You are NOT going to believe what happened today!" almost on a daily basis. Sometimes they're comical stories of kids running into trees. Other times it may be about a parent acting irresponsibly during a field trip. Sometimes, she comes home carrying the weight of the struggles students go through at school and at home. After sharing these stories, she often sighs and says "If all I had to do was to teach, this job would be so much easier."

I've listened to these stories for the past year during the toughest year for any teacher--the first year. Anxiety levels are sky-high, nerves are barely in tact, and they prepare, and prepare, and prepare to execute perfect lesson plans. Yet, they get blindsided by a plethora of the other things.

Perhaps we have to call them something else. Teacher doesn't cut it.

This documentary titled "Children Full of Life" shines a light on the role a great teacher plays on their students.  Mr. Kanamori, a 4th grade teacher in a public school in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, teaches compassion to his students above all else. As you'll see, it's not at all about assignments, tests, and grades.

WARNING: Tear-jerker alert.

"Teachers"

"A good teacher is like a candle--it consumes itself to light the ways of others." 

 -Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

If you have someone special in your life that is a teacher you understand the irony of that job title. The act of teaching is oftentimes overshadowed by everything else they have to do: spending hours after school grading and organizing student work; catering to crazy parents and their oftentimes ridiculous requests and concerns; planning lesson plans and assessments; dealing with extracurricular student situations ranging from behavioral issues, psychological issues, special needs, and of course, intra-student conflicts (worsened by things like cyber bullying that spills into the classroom.) We all know how tough it is to be a teacher, but you really, really don't understand just how challenging it is unless you see it day in and day out.

I decided to make My Spouse Is A Teacher because I am a SOT.  A Spouse Of a Teacher.  As SOTs we, too, have great responsibilities.  We support our favorite teachers as they, quite literally, change the world one child at a time.  We want to empower our community of devoted teacher-supporters. I'm hoping that by sharing what teachers go through and how SOTs play a role behind the scene I can accomplish two things: 1) expose what teachers go through inside and outside the classroom throughout the school year to help people understand what it takes to be an amazing teacher (which my fiancé definitely is), and 2) provide a space for teachers and SOTs to share stories, recommendations, and most importantly, encourage and support each other as they take on arguably the most important profession for our society.

I want to share a video that inspired my fiancé to start her journey as a teacher three years ago. It's a speech titled "What Teachers Make" by a teacher named Taylor Mali. One thing's clear: it ain't for money! 

To get a discussion going: who was the most memorable teacher you ever had? What made them special? Feel free to share us your favorite teacher on the comments below!