LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Quiz a teacher

To the editor:

It is Teacher Appreciation Week. Here are some questions to ask a teacher this week:

Why did you go into teaching? Why do you still do it?

What did you do on that last half-day early release? Did you get all your work done that day?

Have you ever worked in the evening? On the weekend?

How many classes/credits have you added to your education since your first teaching year?

Do you have a master’s degree? Other endorsements? Do you have credits/clock hours for your continuing classes beyond the college degrees you have?

What classes or workshops have you taken this year? Did you pay your own expenses for your continuing education?

Have you read any professional journals or books this year? Do you belong to any professional organizations? Have you designed/written any curriculum this year?

Have you ever fed a hungry student from your lunch or from food you bought to keep in the classroom?

Have you ever called a parent because you were worried about one of your students?

Do you work a second job?

How much of your own money have you spent on classroom supplies?

Have you ever attended a concert, a dance recital, a sports event, an academic competition that your own children weren’t participating in?

Do you sponsor/coach any activities outside the regular school day?

Do you view your students as widgets in a business or as human beings you are developing relationships with? Do you view your students’ parents as customers or as partners in a joint effort to educate our children?

Do you think the changes we are facing in the school district are centered on what is best for kids?

If not, what would you do differently?

Thanks for asking.

Rachel Kizer

Langley Middle School

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