Saying Thanks

As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday here in the USA, I was reading a Facebook post suggesting that parents give a handwritten note of thanks to their children's teachers.  I was feeling a bit morose about the fact that I won't get such a handwritten note, from the parents of the children I have taught, from the teachers, or from the administrators.  But, then I also got to thinking that many of them do not see the work I do and I would probably feel that their thanks was nice, but a bit generic.  They don't know how hard I work.

But there is one group of people who do:  the students I work with.  And I am reminded of the young 4th grade boy who thanked me on his way out of the classroom.  And the older boy, who asked me if their class was the worst class I had ever taught.  He knew how hard he had just made that class (he was one of the ringleaders), but, in a way, his acknowledgement that I had survived the class, with some of his respect was validation, too.

Little girls sometimes give me handwritten pictures of rainbows and hearts.  And there is the occasional, "I hope you come back!" 

Not all days are good.  Subbing is hard and often thankless, in every sense of the word.  I am thankful for the kids who acknowledge somehow that I helped make their day a good one.