Teachers for All Time

What is a teacher? A teacher comes in all forms large and small, male and female, old and young, hired and friend. When you have a child, you become their first teacher. Your attitude toward life and learning can help your child become a lifelong learner.

Most of us think of a teacher as someone we meet when we start our formal schooling. For many years that has been true for the majority of the world. At age five or six, our parents enroll us in school and we leave our homes each day to spend approximately six or seven hours in a classroom taught by someone hired by our school district. 

Today I would like to give a shout-out to that kind of teacher. 

A teacher, as I knew them in my life, was a soft, loving individual who made you feel you were safe and comfortable in their classroom. They also demanded respect in not allowing you to run around and goof off while you were supposed to be learning reading, math or science. Some teachers required you to pay more attention than others, but in my early years in the education system it appeared that you just did as the teacher asked and the world sailed along smoothly at a rapid pace. 

Few students ever caused any chaos although some looked forward to recess more than others. They would fly down the halls as the bell rang and let out all of their pent-up steam. 

Others seemed to take a long time sharpening their pencils, especially if the pencil sharpener was next to the window, which it seems they always were.

Teachers needed to have a lot of patience and even sometimes bite their tongue with the antics of a few of us.

One day I asked my grandson who his favorite teacher was in elementary school. He replied, “My math teacher.” I was surprised, as that would have been my least favorite! Maybe because it was my least favorite subject. When I asked why, he said “it was because she really liked me and she was smart.” He worked hard for that particular teacher because he knew she cared.

Recently we lost a good teacher in Panguitch. Cindy Barney truly loved her students and it showed, but it seems to me that all of our teachers feel the same way about their students. I am sure teachers have years where they feel this class is the greatest class they have had, but later it would be hard to pinpoint which year they enjoyed the most.

I believe our teachers love what they are doing and want the very best for each of their students. As I watch teachers interact with former students, I can see the genuine love and concern they have when they ask the student where they have been and what they are doing. 

We owe them a debt of gratitude for the extra long hours they put in after school as they grade papers and see where each student may need some help. Many teachers spend their evenings coming up with inventive new ways to teach tomorrow’s science lesson. 

Whatever they do, they are always thinking about your child and how to help them learn. 

Lately, homeschooling has been a growing trend. Many parents want to teach their children themselves. Parents approach school as a lifelong learning opportunity and want to affect their children for many years of their lives.

Some of these individuals even have teaching degrees and could be making money teaching other students but prefer to keep their children at home to teach them. That requires a great deal of patience. More patience than some of us have! I have a son that tried home school because of a unique situation for one year. He said he never worked so hard in all his life. The next year he moved to a new area so his kids could go back to school.

Either way you choose to educate your child, hats off to those willing to teach and love our children. Thank you teachers! May you have a great year teaching and loving our children and grandchildren.

– by Elaine Baldwin

Find out who the new teachers along the Byway are here.