Teacher Appreciation Week

May 4, 2016 PBS Wisconsin Leave a Comment

Why does someone become a teacher?

Is it because they like kids? Is it because they enjoyed school?

There is no one “correct” answer for why someone decides to teach, but there is a common thread -teachers teach because they care. As a former teacher and as someone who works with teachers, I daily see the passion in every teacher’s eyes.

HTS_Teachers3Blog

Teachers collaborating with Wisconsin Public Television on curriculum for one of our Hometown Stories documentaries.

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 2-6, 2016. While we appreciate our teachers every day, we wanted to take this week and reach out, thanking educators for all of their time, dedication, and extraordinary care while teaching our children.

Teachers care deeply about the work they do. They put in countless hours before and after school, as well as over weekends, prepping lessons and creating unique learning experiences for students.

They seek opportunities to better serve their students. These opportunities may take place at a state educational conference, with a teaching peer, or while watching a webinar late at night.

Teachers do all of this work because they care about providing our children with a high-quality education – an education that will help them become well-rounded individuals that are responsible, active members of society. (Holy cow! No pressure there…)

Teachers care profoundly for the students they teach. They take the time to learn about the students and their interests, tailoring lessons to meet the children’s specific learning needs.

Screen Shot 2016-05-05 at 9.12.22 AMThis extends to educators outside the classroom, myself included. I’m WPT’s education specialist, and even though I don’t have a traditional classroom, I consider the children of our state my students.

My WPT colleagues and I have the fire and drive to provide high-quality educational resources to our state’s students and educators, so they can have the best possible tools to use on their life-long learning journey. Just like our counterparts in the classroom, we attend educational conferences, learn from our peers (at Wisconsin Media Lab and countless other organizations), and watch webinars before setting the alarm at night.

We want to thank the Wisconsin educators we work with for assisting us in creating resources such as the curriculum for Wisconsin Hometown Stories and Vel Phillips: Dream Big Dreams, which empowers students to evaluate and create change in their community.

Be sure to take a moment to write a short note or give a quick call to a teacher that made a difference in your life.

Do you have a favorite teacher or fond school memory? Please share in the comments below!

 

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