A retired teacher in Louisiana saw this on Facebook and sent it to me. She did notknow who wrote it. I thought it was beautiful.
I separated the lines without changing a word and it read like a poem. It has been tweeted and retweeted more than 200 times.
To parents who are not educators, this may be hard to understand.
Five days a week, we teach your kids.
That means we educate your kids.
Play with your kids.
Discipline your kids.
Joke with your kids.
Console your kids.
Praise your kids.
Question your kids.
Beat our head against a wall about your kids.
Laugh with your kids.
Worry about your kids.
Keep an eye on your kids.
Learn about your kids.
Invest in your kids.
Protect your kids and yes, love your kids.
WE WOULD ALL TAKE A BULLET FOR YOUR KIDS.
It’s nowhere in our job description.
It isn’t covered in the employee handbook.
It isn’t cited in our contracts.
But we would all do it.
So, yes, please hug your kids tonight, really, really tight.
But on Monday, if you see your kids’ teacher, please hug them too.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Very well written and put in this poem. I do not know whether most parents get this; this is what being a teacher entails not only in America but all over the world. Events like Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown bring this reality firmly home to all teachers including me. As you go in everyday, close your eyes and give thanks in a prayer.
As the child of a retired teacher, all the above is true. God bless this countries educators.
You are right. It’s not in our contracts. Nonetheless, it is at the heart of what we do. I grieve for the teachers and staff who died, but I was not surprised by their courage. Not at all.
You are right, and your message should be heard by parents and by some others as well:
To the governor who said that teachers only have to “show up”;
And to the mayor who said we have to hold teachers’ feet to the fire;
And to the legislatures who feel we must be made accountable;
And to the so-called reformer who posed with a broom to show how our schools need to be swept clean;
All of you, please read the list above, written by a teacher.
God bless teachers. I never until now understood how grateful I could be….you are truly the guardians of our children….we bring them to you to leqrn, to play and to be happy and well adjusted kids…we never think for a moment that you have to be in the position to be that those were this past Friday. I think we all value you all that much more and our hearts break that much more. God bless you all and we ache and pray for and with you!
Hi Diane. My name is Hill Taylor.
Although I do not typically enter into news-related discussions of any kind, as an educator, I felt compelled to do so on Friday.
The post you are referring to is mine.
I am not a Louisiana teacher. I am an Oklahoma paraprofessional. Your blog was brought to my attention because a friend saw it and thought I deserved credit where credit is due. Honestly, it doesn’t really bother ME all that much, but as someone who also blogs, I thought you may value the accuracy of what is being posted on your blog.
I am glad that what I had to say moved you enough to repost it. It seems to have spread far and wide, and I hope that this means that teachers worldwide will feel a little more love than usual come tomorrow morning, and in the weeks to come. 🙂
Hi Diane. My name is Hill Taylor. Normally, I don’t enter into news-related discussions, much less on the internet, or Facebook, but as an educator, I felt compelled to do so on Friday.
The “poem” you are referencing is mine.
However. I am not a Louisiana teacher. Far from it. I am an Oklahoma paraprofessional. I didn’t write it as a poem, so I am not sure who changed it along the way, but it is really of little importance to me. I just made a post about how I was feeling on Friday night, because as the school day progressed on Friday, I gave a lot of thought to what it is we do all day, and what an enormous responsibility we all have. Your blog only came to my attention because a friend of mine saw it, and thought I deserved credit where credit was due. It doesn’t really bother ME that much that my words are being plagiarized, but as someone who also blogs, I thought you would value the accuracy of what you are posting. 🙂
This thing has spread far and wide, and I am flattered that it moved you enough to repost it, regardless of where you picked it up. Hopefully, this means that a lot of teachers will be feeling a little extra love and support come tomorrow morning, and in the weeks to come. 🙂
Hill,
I am glad to give you credit if you are the author. It was sent to me by a teacher in Louisiana so I assumed that she was sending along the words of a colleague. Her only comment was that it was posted on Facebook. She did not say the name of the writer. I thought it was beautiful and that it became even more beautiful if I created a separation between every lone. That made it read like a poem and enhanced the beauty of the words.
Please send me your original Facebook posting so I can credit you appropriately.
Diane
I came searching for the source of this writing after seeing it reposted on Facebook. I know this is not the original, but I hope some might consider what I’m saying before they repost it and potentially detract from the true focus in this tragedy. While I agree with 99% of the sentiments in this post, I don’t think it’s appropriate to make this tragedy in any way about “thanking teachers.” I am a teacher, and no matter how true any of the statements are, we were not there, and this is not about us.
E.M. – I disagree. This is the perfect time to draw some attention to those that died protecting their kids, and making sure that teachers, for once, get some recognition for ALWAYS going above and beyond no matter what naysayers may think. There is nothing wrong with reminding people of normalcy instead of focusing on tragedy. This is our normal. We all go back to our students today, like everyday. Some will have questions, we can answer to a certain degree. Some of our students spend more time with us than their own families after all. You are right – the event was not about us – however, if the event can be turned into a gentle reminder that we love and cherish our students enough to die for them then that is even more meaningful.
It isn’t about teachers, true. But I think everyone but teachers were surprised by the level of dedication of the teachers in that school. It’s just one aspect of this tragedy but perhaps a good one.
I shared this AP photo of a banner that hung from the site of the Sandy Hook teachers’ holiday party: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=480062058703174&set=a.132992836743433.12039.132987906743926&type=1&theater
I hug a teacher every day. I married her over 12 years ago.
Diane,
I will be happy to e-mail my original post to you, and please feel free to “friend” me on Facebook to verify it as well. I posted it early Friday evening, and my co-workers liked it so much that they asked permission to pass it on. It took off from there. I am so glad that this has touched peoples’ hearts, and I was in no way was I trying to draw attention away from the tragedy that unfolded on Friday. I will be posting my own blog regarding why I wrote it, later this week, and will be happy to post the link to it here, once it is finished. My sincerest apologies if anyone was offended.
Hill, that’s wonderful. Please send me your original post, so I can give you proper credit. You know that I posted each sentence separately, which turned it into a poem. I hope you didn’t mind. The post went viral. Thousands of people read it. Thank you for it.
Diane
Hill, I have a Facebook page. Someone else administers it. Please send your original post here.
Diane
E.M. you are certainly entiteled to your views and your expression of cautioning about reposting as possibly looking like one is soliciting thanks. I read the post to recognize that in addition to hugging children the reader look for an opportunity to hug their child’s teacher….not that it is was an effort to change the “focus” of the tragedy. Of course some will see it and make that judgement that the writer was soliciting praise for his/her choice of profession but anyone who posts a blog knows their words are open to all sorts of interpretations. I reposted Diane’s blog entry on my facebook page in an effort to call attention to the position all teachers are in every day….protectors of others’ children from harm. I taught school for 34 years and during the final decade was pretty overwhelmed with all the drills that were added to the fire, bomb threat, tornado and earthquake evacuations. We had to instruct children in “shooter in the building”, “chemicals of unknown nature in the building”, and actually one session I was involved in training for was planning for days spent in building with students in event of terrorist attack that would rquire that we stockpile bottled water and sheet plastic and increase the quantity of live plants in the school that could be relocated to secure site to create oxygen source!
I felt like I was stealing the innocence of a group of middle school students the year I had to train them to hide appropriately from “armed shooter on rampage” in my cabinets, under sinks, behind sewing machine booths and those small enough to be able to exit from ground floor windows determined. They did not understand why I would give such a lesson and as they became aware of police dogs in the building (could hear their chains, panting, and boots of police in the hallway they had to be comforted that it was a planned drill and the town and county law enforcement actually practicing with us for such a potential event. I have taught in a number of schools since that event and in all we have had prep for such tragedies. Many of the affluent schools actually have manufactured flip charts for the various issues that could occur. One school was near a shopping strip with many banks and on the frequent occasions of robbery we went into permeter lockdowns that allowed us to change classes but no one to enter or leave building. Cameras are in all the schools now, secure entry points require that when I show up to substitute I have to stand in front of camera and id myself to be allowed to enter. I noticed on the entry to the school I was subbing in last friday that there is “no latex allowed” posted therefore may not enter with balloons. Kids must also be protected on daily basis if they have food allergies and contact with some foods or their oils can even kill an allergic child. Many children have medical or allergic conditions that require the teacher and school nurse and others to be at the ready to save the child’s life. I was given an epipen and trained in its use due to a child’s situation in my final job. Its’ just a fact that teachers do more than teach their students. They do love them and they will intervene to save their students’ lives if that’s what is called for. No need to thank them….that of course is one’s own choice….but as the writer indicated…IF the opportunity arises to share a hug with one’s child’s teacher then go for it. Its not going to take away anyone’s focus on this tragedy if some teachers are given a socially acceptable form of affection such as a hug from a parent. Don’t refrain parents if you feel like hugging your child’s teacher. Oh, and tuck an extra box of tissue in your child’s back pack this week and ask your child to contribute to the class supply…..teachers cry too. I know for a fact that this is hitting teachers just as tragically as it is hitting parents.
I respect all the differing opinions here, as it seems I am most definitely in the minority. I guess I can’t explain exactly why, but it just makes me feel icky to bring the “teachers are underappreciated” platform into a tragic event. We all know we would’ve done the same as those teachers who died or almost died protecting their students, but I don’t want to be the one taking that appreciation from them specifically, not so soon. It doesn’t mean it’s not true, and I agree with every single one of the sentiments in the post, until it gets put in the context of how great we all are as teachers. Honestly, when I saw non-teacher friends post this, it made me smile, but as soon as I saw some teachers on my newsfeed reposting it, it felt wrong somehow.
I am the husband of a K-12 teacher, not one myself, so there’s no immodesty in my saying this: how many hedge fund managers, billionaire trust fund “philanthropists,” corporate profiteers, and their fully owned politicians would take a bullet for a kid?
Hell, most of them would not even spend an entire day in a classroom, and only open their mouths about teachers to bash them and say how they themselves could educate kids better and collect a tidy profit.
Wouldn’t this be a good time to tell Obama it’s time to stop beating up teachers and start listening to what they want to do to fix schools instead of the sociopaths on Wall Street?
beautiful lines!
Hi, Diane.
This is what I posted at 6:25 Friday night on Facebook, in its original context. Let me also clarify that when I said “soapbox” I meant that I do not typically enter into discussions of current events on Facebook– not that I was “taking a stand” for teachers everywhere.
“So, I rarely ‘soapbox’ on FB, but the whole ordeal in Connecticut has brought a lot of perspective in regards to what my co-workers and I do all day. To parents who aren’t educators, this may be hard to understand.
Five days a week, we teach your kids. That means we educate your kids. Play with your kids. Discipline your kids. Joke with your kids. Console your kids. Praise your kids. Question yo…ur kids. Beat our heads up against a wall about your kids. Gush over your kids. Laugh with your kids. Worry about your kids. Keep an eye on your kids. Learn about your kids. Invest in your kids. Protect your kids. Love your kids.
We would all take a bullet for your kids.
It’s nowhere in our job description. It isn’t covered in the employee handbook. It isn’t cited on our contracts. But we would all do it. So, yes– please hug your kids tonight– really, really tight. But on Monday, if you see your kids’ teacher, please hug them, too. Thanks.”
I completely understand how someone would possibly disagree or draw a “teacher appreciation” platform from what I wrote on Friday. However, as the writer of the original post, I assure all of you that I did not write it in order to draw attention to teachers, or to gather “praise” for us. This was about mutual support and trust, not praise. I am sure that there were many people who passed it on, who added their own desire for more “teacher appreciation”, but that is simply not who I am as an educator, and not what I implied as the author.
If you are at all interested in exactly WHY I wrote it, please read this. Thank you.
http://not-your-typical-mom.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-ugly-question.html
I am truly grateful for all the teachers who help all my kids on a daily basis. And I hope I convey that to them.
I can’t even describe how much I love my teachers. I can’t wait to go to school tomorrow and see them and say good morning and hi to them. I just want to give them all a hug. THANK YOU TEACHERS FOR ALL YOU DO AND FOR LOVING EVERYONE SO MUCH!! I LOVE EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!