Having been in the teaching profession for so much of my life, a part of me becomes very nostalgic this time each year. Though at this stage of my life I am quite happy to pass to the younger generation the responsibility of educating our adults of the future, there is still much I miss.
During those years of teaching in the Early Childhood field of education, I saw wonderment in the eyes of young children so eager to learn about the world around them, their unhurried curiosity and enthusiasm, with eyes to see the simplest things.
As teachers, what an awesome responsibility but, what a privilege to have such an important role in the formation of young minds — speaking truth and important values into their young lives, helping them to reach their intended potential.
This poem I discovered years ago, somewhat reminds us of the seriousness of our influence.
The Sculptor
I took a piece of plastic clay and idly fashioned it one day, And as my fingers pressed it,
Still it yielded and moulded to my will.
I came again when days were past;
The bits of clay were dried at last.
The form I gave it, still it bore,
And I could change that form no more.
I took a piece of living clay and gently formed it day by day, And moulded it with power and art — a young child's soft and yielding heart.
I came again when days were gone.
He was a man I looked upon.
He still that early impress wore, and I could change that form no more!
Often, "out of the mouth of babes" comes some quite profound truths. Such was the comment overheard by my daughter of her grade three student, Luke, "A good teacher is someone who wakes up in the morning and says, 'Yipee! today's a school day!'"
Most of us probably had a favourite teacher that left us with warm memories, often years later.
The Teacher Gets A+
I look forward to your class when I come to school.
You're an awesome teacher,
I think you're very cool.
You're smart and fair and friendly;
You're helping all of us.
And if I got to grade you,
From me you'd get A+.
And now, "kids say the darndest things."
A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human, it was physically impossible. The little girl said,
"When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah." The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to Hell?" The little girl replied,
"Then you ask him."
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said,
"Now class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face."
"Yes," the class said.
"Then why is it that while I am standing upright, the blood doesn't run into my feet?" A little fellow shouted,
"Cause your feet ain't empty."
Attention Teachers: How would you like to have been employed as a teacher in the New Brunswick schools in the early 50s?
The following, a partial quote from a newspaper article that appeared May 1952. (The year I ended my New Brunswick public teaching career and moved to British Columbia).
The Minister of Education, Hon. James W. Brittain, has announced the government has raised the minimum salaries for teachers of all classes. For those first class licenses the change will increase their minimum salary from $1,200 to $1,500 (yearly).
Second class licenses will receive a minimum of $1,200 instead of the previous $950, and permanent third class licenses will receive $800, an increase of $200, effective July 1, 1952.
Perhaps it is all relative, you may say.
Observe: in 1952, cost of a new car $1,850.
A new home, $16,800.
Ladies' corduroy jacket $4.99
Cotton knit blouse$ 1.98
Postage stamp 3 cents
Bread 6 cents
Gasoline 20 cents
Milk 96 cents
Average annual salary $ 3,515.
Still glad you're living in this era?
— beulah
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