We Do Big Things

I didn't get a single Valentine's Day card Monday, but I did get a chance to read Huffington Post blogger Steve Nelson's V-Day themed column, "Happy Valentine's Day -- Take This Job and Shove It". Nelson's column echoes a common question among educators these days: Where is the love? Increasingly, many of us feel under appreciated and under attack, under compensated and overworked.

After reading Nelson's dismal outlook that teaching has become, "so unappealing that only the desperately romantic, just plain desperate, or deeply masochistic young person would find it attractive," it occurred to me that our profession has a bit of a PR problem. I'm not sure I agree with Nelson's assessment of teaching today, but I worry that many do. This is unacceptable at a time when we need to value current teachers, and encourage hundreds of thousands more people to enter this profession.

In light of this need, I'm proposing an ad campaign to promote the status of teaching. When I thought of how I would advertise teaching, one phrase from President Obama's State of the Union immediately struck me: "We do big things".

Who does bigger things than teachers? Everyday the work we do shapes the course of the future. We work with kids who come to school without supplies, without meals, with countless emotional and physical needs and we say, "Let's go to work." Could you imagine a campaign that shared the faces and stories of the millions of teachers to do big things in their classroom every day? Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?

What slogan would you use to promote teaching? Feel free to share your own ideas in the comments.

Comments

Unknown said…
You couldn't have said it best-teachers DO, do big things. And just like sculptures, you shape, craft, and mold the lives of children every single day!
Mad Jack said…
We do big things.

I'd take a pass on that one were I in your shoes. The Anointed One's latest job evaluation was a good deal less than stellar. No gold star for Himself this year.

Ditto with Let's go to work!. For many people, going to work is synonymous with Monday morning, and it's back to the old grind.

My own experience with public school teachers has been unfortunate. Your own mileage may vary. I wrote about it here, you can read about it as you like.

I think it was Shakespeare who wrote "There is no darkness but ignorance." You might play around with that a little. Another thing I'm reminded of is that school teachers are leaders by dint of their position. Where and how will you lead?

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