Teacher appreciation – Life with Charli

picture taken from Pixabay

This week has been Teacher Appreciation Week here in the United States! I have discussed my status as a person with a disability and mental illness several times here on my blog. Many educators I have met have been so understanding of my disability and mental illness. I have written two post about wonderful teachers I have had, and you can read them here and here. This is another post celebrating an excellent teacher.

Years ago when I was in kindergarten, I had two great teachers. However, I spent a significant amount time with one of them. It wasn’t until I was older when I got a chance to talk with her about her experience as an educator that I found out she wasn’t a teacher yet during the time she was teaching me. She was a paraprofessional, and was in the process of becoming a teacher. For those who don’t know what a paraprofessional is, a paraprofessional is a person who “supports teachers and students in many ways. For instance, a paraprofessional can tutor students or assist the teacher with managing the classroom and organizing instructional materials”. Paraprofessionals also help with “providing students with one-on-one guidance and handling behavioral or medical issues”.

It was interesting to find out that one of my kindergarten teachers was not exactly a teacher yet. However, then again, I should not have been so surprised. I was a student with special needs who needed extra attention, and giving students the extra attention they need is part of a paraprofessional’s job. My kindergarten teacher did not just give me extra attention though. She was extremely kind, loving, and patient. Even at my very young age of five, I knew she cared deeply for me, and so I cared deeply for her in return. She eventually did become a full fledged teacher, running her own classes and then eventually a department head.

I admire and appreciate her for the time she took to not only nurture my learning, but also my well-being. I definitely felt special with her, but I’m sure I was not her only student who felt this way. It is clear she is a passionate educator. Miss. H, Thankyou for everything, and happy teacher’s appreciation week.

I’ve talked a lot about dealing with mental illness on here. I’ve been dealing with mental illness since early childhood. I was a very happy and talkative child. I can’t fully remember when that started to change, but I do know that I got bullied a lot in school. I’ve always been small for my age, so I stood out like a sore thumb.

This did not change when I reached to high school. When I was in primary school and secondary school I had the same classmates. I had different classmates when I went to high school, but the bullying still continued. My self esteem took a deep dive due to the bullying and only made my depression worsen. By my senior year, my depression took a tool on me and I stayed home from school a lot. I just didn’t like being in school. Then I saw my grades. The moment I took a look at them I went in to a bathroom and started crying. I was failing. If I didn’t shape up, I was in jeopardy of having to repeat my senior year. I started going back to school regularly.

Fortunately, I had very understanding teachers. One teacher in particularly was very helpful. I talked with her about my situation and that I was dealing with a lot. She decided to give me an open book test and to help boost my grade. She gave me a 75 for her class. I was grateful, but I don’t think I showed enough gratitude at the time. Looking back, I don’t remember even saying Thankyou. If I had a chance to see her again, I would give her the gratitude I didn’t at the time. I would tell her Thankyou. Thankyou for giving me a chance to explain myself. Thankyou for being understanding. Thanks to you, I graduated on time.

Tag: Teacher appreciation

The Joys of Kindergarten

A Thankyou to a Wonderful Teacher