How Are YOU Planning on Celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week?

Teacher Appreciation Week — which runs from Monday May 5th to Friday May 9th — is a time to remember that whether they are helping kids to master their multiplication tables, challenging kids to wrestle with the problems that threaten peace and prosperity in the world, or reminding kids that being a good person is just as important as being a good student, teachers really do change lives.

So how are YOU planning on raising awareness about the positive contributions that teachers are making to our communities this week?

Here’s two ideas:

#TeachingIs Project:  The Center for Teaching Quality — a group that has been working to raise teacher voice and to redefine the teaching profession  for the past 20 years — is encouraging teachers to spend the week sharing reflections about just what teaching is all about using the hashtag #TeachingIs.

Think about writing a blog post, crafting an image, or posting a Tweet or two designed to raise awareness about the complexities of the work that you do on a regular basis.  Give people a look inside your heart and your mind.  Share successes and/or struggles.  Let’s work to paint a better picture of our profession for people beyond the schoolhouse walls.

#ThankaTeacherDay Project:  My buddy John Wink — who blogs over at Lead Learner — has come up with a remarkably simple way to show appreciation this week.  He’s encouraging everyone with a stake in education — teachers, parents, students, community leaders, principals, politicians — to write a letter of thanks to a teacher this Saturday, May 10th.

John’s thinking is that the greatest reward that you can give a teacher isn’t another gift card to Starbucks.  Instead, the greatest reward that you can give a teacher is your kind words.  None of us got into this profession to build our apple-themed coffee mug collection.  We got into this profession to make a difference.  Knowing that our work mattered is the only thing that ever really matters.

I’m planning on playing along with both projects.  Will you join me?

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Related Radical Reads:

Celebrating the Day of the Teacher

Standing at the Edge of My Classroom

Teaching is a Grind