DEFINITELY BEAUTIFUL.

Taylor Mali is a teacher, a slam poet, and a serious bad ass.
When asked (by a lawyer) at a dinner party, "you're a teacher, what do you make?"
this was his response:

Taylor Mali on "What Teachers Make"

He made me cry, he reaffirmed my passion for this crazy thing I do,
and he makes a goddamn difference in the lives of children.
That's what Taylor Mali makes.

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Another incredible teacher who has clearly found her calling,

a mother of five/preschool teacher/the blogger behind magical childhood, 

wrote this eloquent article about what four-year-olds should know.

As a soon-to-be teacher of small children, myself,

I constantly hear concerns about whether a child is meeting "benchmarks,"
whether they are going to be ready for the next year.
It is especially concerning in the early years: 

preschool and kindergarten.

Let's love our little ones, stop pressuring them, stop comparing them.
They will absolutely succeed if they feel loved, safe, and free to be little.

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And while we're at it, let's value and respect our teachers.
Let's stop thinking about careers in terms of how much money they make.
We all know how fulfilling money alone can be (I am being completely facetious).

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