Teachers. People have plenty to say about who their favorite teachers are or who they believe to be the worst ones of all time. Being a teacher is definitely something that should not be taken lightly. If teachers have children of their own, they go from dealing with kids (mostly) all day long to going home and dealing with the problems of their own children each day. All of my life, my parents have both been teachers. This can be both a blessing and a curse. It can be a blessing in that you have someone who might can help you with your schoolwork. However, it can be a curse when your parents have dealt with pleasing both 20+ kids plus adults and come home to you telling them about the assignment you don't want to do.
First of all, my parents have instilled high expectations for my siblings and myself. I think this carries over from them having to tell students all day how they should follow directions and complete their work. My parents told us that we should only write our name on a paper that reflects who we are, something we are proud of. Therefore, if we do a crappy job on an essay because we were too busy watching Friends at the same time, we should redo it. Sounds intense, right? But, this advice has taught me how to work hard and never turn in work that I didn't give enough attention to.
My teaching parents have also taught us that we should never interrupt two adults when they are talking unless, of course, there is a fire or someone is bleeding. This is a value everyone should have, and you can tell people didn't learn this when they talk while the teacher is talking. Trust me, interrupting a conversation when you are not in danger puts you in danger, especially when the people are discussing what to have for lunch because the hangry (hunger plus anger from being hungry) has set in.
Let me just say . . . FREE SCHOOL SUPPLIES. All those years of teaching lead to some unused supplies, even unopened supplies. Do you even realize how much money that saves?! Those binders, pens, tons of paper, and Expo markers (if you're me) finally get used instead of collect dust.
Lastly, you get to know first-hand how the other side feels. It is easy to think that all teachers do is yell at you all day then go home and watch Netflix. No, no, no. They are usually up until late working on ways to make their students' lives easier, such as trying to get a million papers graded before the next day (your paper is not the only one, which I sometimes forget myself). I have learned to give my teachers some slack when to comes to uploading grades or having a perfect plan for the class day. They are people, too, who also enjoy watching their favorite reality show before bed instead of working on schoolwork. But somehow, they manage to get it all done. Props to them.
There are many more lessons I have learned from my awesome parents who also happen to be teachers for a living. However, this article would go on forever. I know as much as the next person how frustrating it can be to have a strict teacher or to want my test graded five minutes after I take it. However, I have to humble myself and realize that teachers are people too, with lives too, believe it or not. It really does suck sometimes to complain about an assignment to my parents only to get no pity in return. However, I have learned that each assignment is designed to help you, not torture you (although I can debate this, and I'm sure many others can, too). Appreciate your teachers because, trust me, they will appreciate you in return!
