Makin’ my beloved’s tea this mornin’ means gettin’ back into “the groove” (and that’s about as close as you want me gettin’ to a Madonna song, trust me!). That groove is her reporting in for her first teacher duty day. Teachers report a week before the kids do… but most of them never really quit working, if you get my drift.
Throughout the ages, what’s been taught in schools has changed a bit. Back in my day, when we chiseled our ABCs into the side of the caves between hunts, we got rewarded with smiley faces if we didn’t miss too many letters!
When we visited the Holy Land we learned about the “Teaching Steps” — the place where folks who weren’t allowed into the synagogue could still come hear the rabbis teach, ask questions, and learn.
We also learned why those beautiful churches and basilicas were covered in frescoes and paintings: so the parishioners who couldn’t read (or understand the Latin of the service) could still see and know the Bible stories.
Hmmmm… Steps, paintings, frescoes… different tools, same calling: teachers creating ways for other teachers to reach their students.
All summer long Toni has been studying new ways to reach the kids, dreaming up exciting ideas to greet them on the first day back, looking for ways to make learning more fun and engaging this year. She knows that over the coming days she’ll be handed the new state objectives (some of which she’s already seen and taught for years). But the difference between a teacher and an educator is what’s between those pages — okay, that screen, let’s be real — and what’s on the other side of it.
Everyone with the ability to read those lesson plans may be able to… well… read them. But as Paul and James pointed out, only a few have the gift to teach them.
Just some thoughts from a guy who is fully aware that he’s happily married to a 1st-grade teacher.
(Hmmm… coincidence? I’ll let you be the judge. 😊)
Bible Verses
Questions
Can you think of any special teachers in your life ??? Would you like to share who… and why ???
Leave a Reply