May 2, 2022

By Aleta Margolis, Founder and President, Center for Inspired Teaching

Hooray for Monday is a weekly blog filled with questions, ideas, reflections, and actions we can all take to remodel the school experience for students. 

Listen to this issue below the Resource section or on SoundCloud!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Thank you teachers for inspiring, challenging, and supporting your students and their families – this year and every year.

The dictionary defines appreciate as “recognize the full worth of.” It stretches the imagination to try to recognize the full worth of teachers. Teachers are students of the human learning apparatus. Teachers are researchers, relentlessly investigating how their students learn, and how they can learn better. Teachers turn over every stone as they uncover and devise ways to help their students thrive. And teachers commit to their own learning every single day.

Nearly two decades ago, my colleagues and I took on the task of articulating what exactly An Inspired Teacher Is. The description is just as relevant today because the qualities of a teacher are timeless even as the context in which they work continually evolves.

So what does it mean to express appreciation for the people who take on this extraordinary role?

• For students, teacher appreciation means engaging wholeheartedly in school, committing fully to the learning experiences into which teachers invite you. And making a point of saying thank you.
• For school leaders, policymakers, and parents, teacher appreciation means soliciting teachers’ advice and wisdom, and taking it seriously. It means inviting teachers to the table as leaders in decision making about what school should look like. And it means providing the support and resources teachers need in order to excel in their jobs.

To the teachers and school leaders who make up the Hooray For Monday community:

Thank you. Not only are you contributing mightily to the wellbeing of your students, you are contributing to my wellbeing too. Those of you who attend our Institutes, online and in-person, and share your stories of challenge and hope, who smile and laugh with my colleagues and me, even in the midst of all you carry, and who renew your commitment to making school engaging for your students and yourself – you keep us going. Those of you who send notes telling me how you use Hooray For Monday in your schools, and share your stories with all of us at Inspired Teaching – you help us stay focused in our work, and remind us that our work is appreciated too.

We strive, always, to recognize the full worth of you.