Some Thoughts on Teacher Appreciation Week

Ah yes, it’s that time of year…Teacher Appreciation Week (May 7-11th 2012)!  I can honestly say that as a high school teacher, I usually don’t even know it is T.A.W. because, for some reason or another, we don’t get ‘appreciated’ as much as our dear elementary school colleagues.  It is probably a combination of the fact that high school students have multiple teachers (which translates to more people to ‘appreciate’) and are filled with teenage angst (which means they actually loathe the evil trolls who make their lives miserable by assigning endless amounts of homework)!

But, I can assure you, we high school teachers work just as hard and put in just as much effort as teachers of other grade levels and it is nice to be appreciated, too.  I will give props to our student council who usually throw us a nice staff appreciation lunch before the school year ends, making our faces light up like kids in a candy store!

One thought to note…appreciation is NOT about gifts and ‘things’….it is as simple as a nice hand-written note that says ‘thank you’ or even just a verbal ‘hey, Miss Rush, thanks for making learning fun’. These sentiments go a long way and mean SO MUCH! On that note, I’ve compiled a list of ways in which you can appreciate your teachers, starting with a simple thank you note!

Last year I printed cards and had my students write notes to their other teachers.  It made me feel good knowing my colleagues were being appreciated!  This year I designed a card that you can print, too!