National Teacher Day

In addition to being Cinco de Mayo (in case you needed an excuse for a Corona), Tuesday is also National Teacher Day and part of Teacher Appreciation Week. As a community service message for my former colleagues, I'd like to take this opportunity to say two things:

1. You really don't have to buy anything for your teachers (most of them don't need another apple-shaped coffee mug, unless it comes loaded with a Starbucks gift card). But bringing in some flowers from your yard or a container of cookies is always a nice idea.
   
   
2. Teaching is a rough job, and it's really easy for a teacher to get overwhelmed by the bad things and forget about the good things. If there's a teacher in your life -- past or present -- who had a positive impact, take a few minutes today to let him or her know.
   

I was a high school teacher for four years -- it was, in some ways, as exhausting and incredible as being a parent. Now that I've been out of teaching for nearly a decade (where does the time go?!), I have special memories (and occasional nightmares) of my time in the classroom. I also still have treasured notes from former students and their parents (including my signed yearbooks) that remind me of the good things I did while I was there.

So for National Teacher Day 2009, give a teacher a good memory instead of a mug.