And now let’s draft a letter like this for all of the teachers….
Dear Teacher,
No matter how your children perform on this one flawed snapshot, in one specific week this year, they will never forget you. You are the adult they spent most of their waking hours with the past nine months. When you encouraged them to ask questions, stayed up late (again) to make the lesson interesting, paid for supplies for those who could not, found something good to tell their parents, put their work on the walls and celebrated their accomplishments – when you modeled respect by treating each child as a unique individual worthy of your curiosity and interest…
Well, you created unforgettable experiences. You had one shot to give them a memorable school year, to help them grow and learn….and you did it.
So, here’s to all of you… keep going. The world needs few things more than desperately than we need smart, kind, inventive teachers.