How to be the Perfect Teacher...

(The following is a letter written to my school from a woman who worked with us for three years in our Severely Learning Disabled class. She moved to a different building this year in order to be closer to home and their baby, avoiding the 45 minute commute. This letter was printed off and placed in our First Day Back packets from the principal. Our co-worker named names in this letter.)

Title:  How to be the Perfect Teacher

The first thing you need to be a wonderful teacher is tough love. You follow up student decisions (both good and bad) with consequences that were laid out in the beginning of the year. Your class will highly effective and efficient. For this, look to Ms. [5th reading grade teacher.]

You will need to know how to do 5 billion tasks at the same time while being organized. For this, see Ms. [4th grade math teacher.]

Teachers must always work with less than they need and still make student gains. To know how to do this, go talk with Ms. [4th grade reading teacher.]

A teacher must be kind to others and non-judgmental. Observe Ms. [3rd grade] and Ms. [2nd grade] to figure out how to be this person.

If you want to know what is going on with your students and be someone they trust, follow Mr. [3rd grade]'s example.

As a teacher, we must be knowledgeable in several different types of programs and strategies. Talk with Ms. [1st grade]. She is a wealth of knowledge.

On days that are bad and make you want to get even with your students, go see Ms. [2nd grade] and Ms. [2nd grade]. They will start practicing for the Students vs Teacher softball game early and tell you how hard the fifth graders cried last year when they lost.

To see how a teacher treats special education students the same as everyone else, observe Ms. [Librarian].

A teacher always wants to look his or her best. Give up on this now. Ms. [Counselor], Ms. [Learning Specialist], Ms. [Intervention leader] and Ms. [Principal] will always out-dress you. Always. This is a fact.

If you want to know how to be the kindest and most caring teacher, follow Ms. Kindergarten]'s lead.

If you want to secretly be one of the nicest teachers in the building, watch Mr. [Special Ed]. He doesn't like people knowing all the nice things he does, but he is pretty amazing when he thinks no one is looking.

For days you need a good laugh, and someone to joke with, go see Mr. [Special Ed].

If you want to be the most fun teacher in school, watch any of our specialists.

And last, but certainly not least, is Ms. [EarthSignMama]. She is not a teacher from 8:30 -3:30. She is a teacher every hour of the day. I will never forget her kindness to others. Especially the time she went and cleaned a student's lice infested house so they would stop missing school. This, my friends, is true love of a teacher; uncompromising love and loyalty for all others. You know, one of my favorite quotes says, "Students who are loved at home, come to school to learn, and students who are not, come to be loved." If this is who you want to be, see Ms.[EarthSignMama].

 So, then she ended her letter with an additional shout out to our principal for hiring a first year teacher and giving her a chance at a career that she loves. She loves us all, will miss us,--swears that we will miss her!!--and we will...

 I cried when I read it. I blushed and I cried. I've never had anyone lavish such unexpected praise on me, ever. She and I got along great! I'm sure she is young enough that I could have given birth to her, but she treated me like a peer and taught me many great skills, also. 

So, in the future, when I might be having a bad day at school, I'll pull out my letter and read again about how wonderful I am, and I'll stand up straight, and throw back my shoulders, and march right back into the storm.