Dear Reader:

As school winds down for another year…Teacher Appreciation Week is here! As a retired teacher and a big proponent of  a teacher’s right to fight for better teaching conditions… I was with the South Carolina teachers in spirit last Wednesday as they descended on the State House to ask for fair wages and better working conditions. ***Because of this protest I think this week is even more special!

Teachers simply don’t get enough “thank you’s” to lift them up into those big puffy euphoric clouds we talked about earlier in the week. Most teachers feel like they drag themselves out of the trenches at the end of each day…a “no man’s land” where only the bravest, most generous, selfless “philanthropists” go to live. (And believe me a teacher does “live” there…many days I felt like I spent more time there than at home with my own children.)

A couple of years ago I found a funny metaphor on teaching and put it in the blog. Last week I noticed the original post was getting a lot of “hits” so I decided to re-enter it in today’s blog post….hope you enjoy it…for the first time …or second. 🙂

 THE LESSON (Jesus and His “Daunting Dozen”)

Then Jesus took his disciples up to the mountain and gathering them around him, he taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are they that thirst for justice. Blessed are you when persecuted. Blessed are you when you suffer. Be glad and rejoice for your reward is great in heaven.”

Then Simon Peter said: “Do we have to write this down?”

And Andrew said: “Are we supposed to know this?”

And James said: “Will we have a test on this?”

And Phillip said: “I don’t have any paper!”

And Bartholomew said: “Do we have to turn this in?”

And John said: “The other disciples didn’t have to learn this!”

And Matthew said: “Can I go to the boys’ room?”

And Judas said: “What does this have to do with real life?”

Then one of the Pharisees who was present asked to see Jesus’ lesson plan and inquired of Jesus: “Where are your anticipatory set and objectives in the cognitive domain?”

And Jesus wept.

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So until tomorrow…Thank a teacher once and then turn around and thank him/her again with a big hug….because we teachers could always use an extra hug!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

***The big day has arrived for Tommy and Kaitlyn! They are off to Dingle, Ireland today and their second wedding anniversary! My wish for y’all is that this trip will be the best one ever! *Don’t forget to let me know when you get there safe and sound…I will be waiting!!! (It’s a “Mom” thing you know! 🙂