Champions
It is that designated time of year again when we are to celebrate teachers with “Teacher Appreciation Week”.
So, I thought I would remind everyone what exactly a teacher is and why they deserve to be celebrated.
When we think of the word “champion”, we usually think of it in terms of athletes and sporting events (which, by the way, too many children idolize and want to be winning athletes who become famous and make ridiculous amounts of money! That’s another topic for another day for sure!)
When I think of champions, I am reminded of teachers and the powerful Ted Talk that Rita Pierson gave entitled “Every Child Needs a Champion”.
You can watch it here.
Teachers ARE champions and should be celebrated and appreciated and compensated as such!
As a noun, the word “champion” is from Latin campus meaning field (of combat), which came to mean someone who is a “combatant in a field”.
As a verb, champion means “to fight for, defend, protect, maintain or support by contest or challenge”.
Many teachers feel like the classroom is a “field of combat” anymore because of all the accusations, allegations, instigations that are happening to them via parents, students and even admin and colleagues sometimes.
Teaching is hard…no doubt about it!
But I would like to share a different perspective that might inspire and give hope to teachers (and no, it is not toxic positivity, so don’t even go there!)
I thought of how a field is also where we can wander, explore and even grow food or flowers for sustenance or enjoyment.
What kind of field of “dreams” are we creating everyday in the classroom?
