Thanksgiving traditionally marks the beginning of the holiday season. As a former elementary school assistant principal, I used to wander around the hallways and visit classrooms at this time of the year. It was lovely to see bulletin boards filled with wonderfully creative pieces of work from students giving thanks for what they are grateful for in life.

We are almost two years into a horrific pandemic. It struck me recently that, for example, students in 4th grade this year had their last “normal” school year back when they were in first grade. That is huge. Their second and third-grade years were sprinkled with home instruction due to quarantines, Zooms, Google classrooms, Edmodo, etc. These first graders could not go out and play with their friends. These first graders could not socially interact during recess and had to eat lunch in their classrooms. For some of the time, they were at home. For some, their only social interaction with their friends was through a screen. Yet out of this, we have many things to be thankful for. I distinctly remember, as an assistant principal, being told on a Thursday afternoon that beginning the following Monday, learning was to be fully remote. Within literally 72 hours every teacher had set up an online account for their students, taught themselves the online medium that they were to educate from and had translated their lessons from the traditional face-to-face learning to a digital format. All in a matter of 72 hours. I was in awe that every single teacher that I worked with stepped up to the plate.

The next three months were a cacophony of online and zoom lessons and teachers every single day were having to reinvent themselves. I saw teachers create bulletin boards in their homes. I saw teachers get creative with their Zoom background screens. Fast forward to the 2020/2021 school year, yet more changes were in store for our teachers. From week to week they never knew whether they would be in person or remote. The students were huddled behind plastic screens, six feet apart, wearing masks and our teachers were unable to teach in their traditional ways. They were unable to have groups collaborating. Lunch was in the classroom. New terminology entered the classrooms that of, “mask breaks”.

As we enter this holiday season let us be thankful to the amazing teachers, teacher aides, teacher assistants, custodians, psychologists, social workers, and school administrators who have moved heaven and earth to provide as much normalcy for our students as possible. This school year is what I would term as “semi-normal”. I'm grateful that this year is “semi-normal” rather than the “not normal” of last year.

As we slowly return to pre-COVID normality, let's be thankful for what we do have. We have teachers who are dedicated to educating children. We have teachers who have had to reinvent themselves. We have teachers who previously were nervous about turning on their computers who are now masters of Google Classroom, creating slides, and initiating breakout rooms. There is not one profession that I can think of that has so much influence on our future society. Every doctor, scientist, plumber, pilot, driving instructor and so many more professions would not be where they are had it not been for their teachers at school laying the foundations of reading, writing, math, STEM and social and emotional learning. Entering this holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving in November, let's be thankful and grateful for all we have. How do we do this?

Sometimes a little handwritten note such as some of the examples in the attached link can mean the world to a teacher. It shows you thought of them.

https://allassignmentsupport.com/blog/25-best-examples-for-a-thank-you-note-to-teacher/

Sometimes we just need to readjust our thinking to be thankful and grateful. I love some of the suggestions on this website:

https://www.readersdigest.ca/health/healthy-living/3-ways-feel-thankful/

A failed test, a missed homework assignment, or a behavioral infraction does not define a child. Thank a teacher. Be grateful for that teacher. Celebrate that teacher. Be grateful for what we have in life, even during the tough times. Happy holidays.