20 Things You Can Only Appreciate if You’re a Teacher

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Teachers are every parent and child’s unsung hero. They’re therapists, mediators, nurses, mentors, custodians, and so much more. Frankly, many teachers should be on at least three different payrolls. But often times, educators don’t get the credit they deserve. According to The Wall Street Journal , in 2018, American teachers quit their jobs at the highest rate on record for the profession. So, what’s driving educators out of the classroom in droves? Well, besides inadequate pay and overwhelming stress, a 2019 report by PDK International indicated that teachers often quit because they feel generally disrespected and/or undervalued.

So, in the spirit of appreciation, here’s a rundown of the good, bad, and generally weird daily experiences that only teachers will understand. Hopefully, it’ll make you a little more empathetic to their plight.

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Nothing beats a fresh-baked pan of brownies! And while some parents may have ulterior motives for bringing you their finest Betty Crocker baked good, you can’t be bought (though you will certainly enjoy the fruits of their labor).

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A great part of being a teacher is that you get to educate siblings. When you see a familiar name on your roster, you might be filled with a sense of dread, joy, or, more often than not, curiosity to see how the two both resemble each other and how they differ. The good news is, you’re coming in a little bit more prepared and that classroom property—books, in particular—lifted by the older generation will sometimes find its way back to your class in the hands of the younger. Plus, you get to see who’s better at doodle graffiti!

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The real heroes of elementary and middle school education are the school pets. These nameless rodents and reptiles do the hard work of providing your students with the unconditional companionship that they need and invaluable lessons about responsiblity. School pets, we salute you!

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Say you teach Algebra II, and the Algebra I teacher from the year before really phoned it in. Now, your students aren’t prepared for your course—they might have learned formulas incorrectly, or not at all, for instance—and you’re forced to un-teach or re-teach. But, on the plus side, you have the extra opportunity to do what you do love most: teach.

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One of the perks of being a teacher is that you get to watch this happen: A student hasn’t done their homework, and when it’s time to hand it in, you let them pull the classic: “Well, my dog ate it.” At first, they’re encouraged by your active listening, but then there’s the delicious moment—about 85 seconds in—where they realize you know truth.

It’s one of those moments that’s just as teachable for the teacher as it is for the student. Are you going to use them as an example, and possibly shame them in front of the entire class? Or are you going to practice leniency and talk to them after the bell?

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This is always best when they’re trying to be coy. We see that iPhone under your desk!

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Every teacher knows this student: the one who, walking into the classroom and seeing “Quiz” written on the board, realizes that they need to see the nurse. Immediately.

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During your first class, your students struggle to stay awake. By third period, they’re bouncing off the walls. Whatever they’re feeding them at lunchtime, it hits consistently—and it hits hard .

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The limit does not exist!

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There are those students you’re of course happy to recommend, and then there are the students who believe you’d be happy to recommend them because you vowed to never hate the student, just the student’s unique problematic behavior. Both are getting letters—one’s just going to be a bit more glowing.

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You found the perfect website for your lesson plan, but you discover during the eleventh hour that there have been a new set of browser restrictions set up overnight. So that genuinely informative website you were going to show your students? Yeah, it’s blocked. (Savvy teachers, for the record, appreciate having a pal in IT who can help them circumvent such firewalls—when it’s appropriate, of course!)

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No one will disagree that computers are an invaluable classroom resource. Most of the time, they really do facilitate student learning and meaningful discussion. However, they can also create problems. Case in point: the screen-share. Your students are on their laptops and you call on one of them to show their work to the class on the big screen at the front of the room. However, having put the student on the spot, the screen-share shows a major no-no: one of those sites IT recently banned. Oops!

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At first, you thought your online grade book was a godsend. It does all of the math for you, it’s easy to use, and it significantly reduces the time it takes to enter grades. What you did not know was what a fickle beast these programs can be. All it takes is one major crash—and a Saturday afternoon spent reentering the grades for all 200 of your students—to switch back to a good ole paper system.

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Say, for example, you place an order for a new set of hardcover editions of the book your class is reading, and the finance folks change the order to the less expensive option: paperback. By the end of the semester, the books are in tatters—and that’s just something you have to live with as a teacher.

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You put in a request way back in August to have that malfunctioning fire alarm light fixed. By the time the maintenance staffs gets around to it, though, you and your class are totally desensitized to it. After a few such mishaps, you learn to factor this delay into all of your requests.

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The recycling bin could not be more clearly labelled, but the pile of litter at its base could not be taller! This seemingly simple task is apparently very difficult for students to grasp.

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A student standing next to you at an assembly suddenly raises their arm to wave at an approaching friend. Hormones, man…

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You receive a touching email from the administrative folks thanking you for your hard work, your dedication, your patience, your grace under pressure, your tireless efforts, your… And then you notice that the message applies to kindergarten through second-grade teachers only. Sure, they’ve really earned it. But so have you!

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Sometimes, a student can be wildly disruptive—and sometimes, their behavior can turn into a golden teachable moment. Whether it’s something social (“We don’t say that, Timmy”) or educational (hey, long division is tough ), few things are better than seeing a lesson impart in real time.

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When you take a step back as you watch your students interact, you recognize that you weren’t really that different when you were their age, and you suddenly appreciate just how far you have come. It’s an experience that’s both humbling and energizing—and then you put that positive energy straight back into sorting out your online grade book. And if you want to cheer up your favorite educator, check out these 20 Teacher Appreciation Gifts That Are a Total A+ .