Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Last year, a teacher asked her students what they wished their teacher knew and it opened the eyes of teachers are around the United States. We all keep things inside and the only way for people to understand us is to let them out and share because only then can we begin to see each other for what we really are. Here a list of things I wish my students knew…

I wish my students knew…

1. I really love them like they are my own kids.
2. That I spend DAYS planning their lesson and when they say it was dumb, it hurts my feelings.
3. That when a tragedy occurs I immediately find out if they are okay, every one of them.
4. That I am super nervous on the first day of school and probably didn’t sleep the night before.
5. I love when they achieve a high grade after putting a lot of effort into their work.
6. That I need adult interaction at lunch time, and it’s not personal.
7. That I grade their papers while I cook supper and help my son with his homework and that is why there are unexplained stains on their paper.
8. That I worry about what they think of me.
9. I hope they don’t see how nervous I am when I am observed.
10. That I have 74 other students and I have to take care of them as well.
11. That I bought that bulletin board paper with my money and I do not appreciate them drawing on it.
12. That I cry when they leave after a particularly bad day.
13. I have tried to call home four times and with four different numbers that didn’t work.
14. I brag about them to other teachers and the principal.
15. I quote them at my dinner table.
16. I do not need another coffee cup, but really appreciate it. I’ll add it to my collection of 30.
17. I love their notes and drawings.
18. I love when they stop by after they graduated and tell me I made a difference.
19. I wish they believed in themselves as much as I believed in them.
20. I hope I made a positive difference in their lives because they made a difference in mine.

As we go back to school, I hope you have wonderful school year and love your students for what they are and not what you want them to be. Love them because sometimes you are the only one that does. Despite what it may seem like, they love you as well even if they do not say it the way we wish they did.

Alice has been teaching for fourteen years. She currently teaches English I, English III, English...

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.