Category Archives: Inspiration

Happy Labor Day!

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Labor Day celebrates the workers who have made America the country it is today. And all throughout the country, our public schools are full of some of the hardest-working people I have ever met. Teachers, administrators, support staff, custodians, counselors, teachers’ aids—they all work some of the longest hours of any professionals around. They invest countless hours in our kids, including long days, weekends, even summer and winter vacations. Most educators are driven by one driving mission: Making sure students get access to the education and life skills they need to succeed. Happy Labor Day, Teachers!

Just for laughs: A list of responsibilities for teachers from 1872

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It’s that time of year when teachers are beginning to prepare for the start of another school year, it seems appropriate to spend some time reflecting on professional responsibilities. Just for laughs, here’s the list of responsibilities for teachers published by the National Popular Education Board in 1872. It’s amusing to see how much things have changed in the last 140 years. Here’s the list:

  • Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys.
  • Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day’s session.
  • Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.
  • Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.
  • After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.
  • Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
  • Every teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.
  • Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity and honesty.
  • The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.

Awesome.

A student tells us “What’s the purpose of school?”

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While cruising on Facebook the other day, I stumbled across this posting from Edutopia. I couldn’t resist sharing it with you.

A classroom teacher asked her students to respond to the prompt, “What’s the purpose of school?” This is one of the responses she got. Enjoy!

“The purpose of school is not just to learn, but become a better human being. Sure, you also need to know your math and history facts. But the point of school is to gain skills like, compassion, self-awareness, organization, and kindness. That is a teachers ultimate goal.”

I don’t think any of us in the educational community could have said it better.