Thank You, Teachers!

As many of you know, next week is Teacher Appreciation Week here in the United States. As a former teacher, current instructional coach, daughter and wife of professors, and parent of elementary-age kids, teachers are very important to me! I spent part of yesterday in a 6th grade social studies classroom and was considering, yet again, returning to the classroom as a teacher. There's just something magical about being with kids and watching the light bulb go off when they figure something out. Knowing how much work it takes to get to that point, I want to say thank you to all of the past, present, and future teachers out there for all of the hard work you do, often without thanks! A special thank you goes out to my kids' teachers and to all the teachers with whom I currently work!

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Write.Click.Scrapbook. is featuring teacher appreciation projects all week this week (as in check back daily and be sure to go back and read Monday's and Tuesday's posts as well!). As I was busy with the October Afternoon Cakewalk Blog Hop yesterday, I wanted to be sure to link you today to yesterday's blog post at Write.Click.Scrapbook., which includes projects from the lovely and talented Paula Gilarde, as well as this card from yours truly:

Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd + Chipboard: Bella Blvd + Stickers: Bella Blvd + Twine: May Arts

For me, there were two teachers that stood out. Mrs. McKenzie was my 5th grade teacher. She really understood that the way to get kids to excel was to allow them choice and creativity in pursuing their learning. I remember creating countless book projects, each developed on my own. I never knew whether I was reading the books to read the books or so that I could exercise my creative muscles through a project completed at the end of each book and presented to the class! Ms. Culbert was one of my high school history teachers. As an incredibly shy high school student, I appreciated that Ms. Culbert truly valued all voices in the classroom and found ways to get all voices heard, not just the loudest ones.

I'd love to hear from my readers about a teacher who has made an impact in your life or in your child's life. Better yet, go and email or call that teacher and let him or her know how much their teaching meant/means to you!