A Note about Teachers

I can't stop thinking about teachers.

Today, I am mad at the teachers on my staff.  In the past two days I have seen and heard about the most absurd and unprofessional behavior that I can imagine (stealing other teacher's things, chatting openly about how terrible our summer program will be in front of parents, etc) coming from adults.  And it makes me angry.  It makes me feel like they are in my school, wasting their time, wasting my time, wasting the parents' time, and wasting the children's time.

However...

There was a national disaster yesterday and it directly affected two elementary schools.  The tornado in Moore, Oklahoma flattened two schools full of students and at least one daycare center (but probably more) full of babies and toddlers.  And it was the teachers who saved the children's lives.  The teachers put their own bodies between the tornado and the children.

The same thing happened in Newtown, Connecticut.  When children were in danger in school, the teachers put their lives at risk to try to save their students.  Some were successful, and some were not.

Those teachers are considered heroes.  They are heroes.  But I can guarantee you that not once, not for one single second, during those life-threatening crises did any of those teachers think that they were acting heroically.  They were simply acting based on the reflex of being a committed and caring teacher.

If we call them heroes during a disaster, we have to call them heroes every day. They are ready to protect their students from harm, at all costs, every day.

Even when that one kid won't sit still.  Even when that other one won't be quiet.  Even when that one rolls her eyes.

My teachers are no different.

Seeing images and hearing stories of teachers' acts of heroism in Oklahoma moves me because it reminds me that I have the immense privilege to work with everyday heroes.

Even when that one teacher complains.  Even when that other one won't put away her cell phone.  Even when that one rolls her eyes.

So when I go to work tomorrow morning, I won't walk in thinking of the rules they might break or the trouble they might cause. Instead, I'll think of the fact that I am with heroes and that I know that (God forbid) if something dangerous were to ever happen in my school that they would act based on that powerfully simple and awe-inspiring reflex of being committed and caring teachers.