“Students don’t care  
how much you know  
until they know  
how much you care.”
John C. Maxwell

In my early days of teaching, I attended a professional development presentation by Dr. Eleanor Brown at which she spoke these prophetic words (paraphrased): If you are someone who needs immediate positive feedback from your students, I suggest you seek a different profession as soon as possible. It rarely happens. What will happen, however, is that ten or fifteen or twenty-five years later, you will be walking through a mall and someone will come up to you, call you by name, and say, “You were my teacher when…” The person will then go on to tell you about something specific they recall from your class, or about you, and how that experience made a positive difference in their life. 

Teaching is an undervalued profession. In previous generations, when many parents themselves may have completed only a high school level education, if that, teachers were highly respected. Parents recognized that teachers were well-educated. They also acknowledged and appreciated that teachers devoted their lives to educating the next generations of young people. Today, as a greater percentage of men and women have earned advanced degrees, many who are now parents display little respect for the expertise of the teachers. They also seem to have a lack of appreciation for the commitment and sacrifices the teachers make to educate today’s youth. 

In my 40-plus years as a professional educator, I had the privilege of working with a handful of inspiring women and men who had mastered the art of teaching. It was not uncommon for me to sit-in on a colleague’s class during my prep period to observe how they interacted with their students. I became a better teacher because of the example they provided for me. Sadly, I also worked with a number of colleagues who seemed far more interested in being popular with their students than being professional educators. 

As I reflect back on my career in the classroom, I am well aware that, despite my best efforts, there were others who were simply better teachers than me. I don’t let this reality bother me, because I know, without a doubt, that I consistently put forth my best effort. There are most certainly some former students, now adults, who will have less than positive memories of their experience in my classroom. I can only hope that this would be a small percentage of those I taught. I take solace in knowing that most of my former students are living successful, productive lives, and that their memories of being in my class are are primarily positive. I am tremendously grateful to have played a small part in the life journey of these women and men.

To my family and friends who are currently working in the field of education in Japan, the Bahamas, and here in the United States, thank you for the work you are doing. You are appreciated today — World Teachers’ Day — and every day.