"Thank You, Teacher"

These three words: "Thank you, teacher" are the whole reason I am doing this job.

I had parent-teacher conferences two weeks ago. Speaking from a teacher's point of view, these conferences are wonderful because we get to communicate with parents about their child's performance in the classroom. Even if parents can only speak Spanish, which in my case they do, it is still so important to talk to them about their child.

There was one particular conference that touched me, however. I was particulary concerned for this child, Zeke because of his reading skills. Basically, he is reading at a first-grade level in my 4th-grade classroom. At his conference, through an interpretor, I was able to express that, yes, I have concerns about his reading, but that he behaved really well in class. I went on to tell Zeke's dad how much I enjoy having him in my class because of his smile and happy demeanor. I gave this dad some things to do at home (a.k.a. have Zeke read with him 15 minutes a day). I felt that this dad was truly willing to help, and he wanted to know what he could do.

At the end of this very positive conference, this dad started to cry. I was so suprised because usually dad's don't show much emotion, especially in front of a woman. I asked him what was wrong. In response, he simply said, in his very broken English, "Thank You Teacher! I very happy."

I think most everybody knows that teachers do not get much in terms of monetary compensation. However, I think that teachers truly go into the profession for the right reasons are not in it for the money. We are in it to teach children and to touch lives. It is little "thank yous" from parents and students that are our true compensation and make all of the hard work worth while. I cannot tell you how blessed I am to be a part of this little boy's learning.
I am happy to report that in just a couple of weeks, Zeke's fluency and comprehension have already started to improve.
I am so glad I was a part of that conference. Those three simple words meant the world to me. Much more than a paycheck would (even though I need those too:)