Thank You, Mr. Ziebarth, by Sean Ziebarth
It had been a rough day.
I tried to give one student some advice, but he stood up and said, “Mr. Ziebarth, I don’t find this advice helpful, so I’m not going to listen.” He walked away.
At times, teaching feels like this — lessons don’t land, students tune out. It’s just that they don’t often say it to your face. But when they do, it stings.
Later that day a student stopped by my room and gave me a thank you card, the one you see in this photo.
It read, in part, “You are one of the most inviting yet unconventional teachers I’ve ever had … you are the only teacher I can say that I’ve truly liked, whose class I’ve truly enjoyed, and whose words and advice I’ve truly taken to heart.”
Teaching can feel like this too — it’s just that students don’t often say it to your face. But when they do, it makes you want to sing!
That’s why I keep a file folder stuffed-to-bursting with student notes and thank-you cards. I treasure them as an antidote for those days when the stings really smart.
I made this photo to be a balm for my fellow teachers who may be wincing from the bumps and bruises inflicted on them by our current cultural climate, a hostility stemming, at times, from their own communities and school boards.
Teachers of America, thank you! Keep going! Keep going for all those students you mean the world to. They may not tell you, but every day they take your words and advice to heart. And remember: You’re not alone.
Which pieces are most interesting to you? Why? What would you like to say to these artists?
Which do you relate to most? Which reflect your own experiences of or emotions about being a student — or teacher?
Which pieces show you something new, or make you think about an aspect of school life in a way you haven’t before? Why?
What’s missing from this collection? What additional experiences have you, or others you know, had that could be added to make this portrait of life in school more complete?
If you had submitted to this challenge, what aspect of being in school might you have documented?
How does the story these students and educators tell about being in high school compare with the stories about students and teachers you often hear from the news media or adults? What do you think our larger society needs to know about what it’s really like to be a student or teacher in 2023?
We ran this challenge in part to celebrate our 25th anniversary as a site. If we had asked teachers and students to submit work about what high school was like in 1998, when The Learning Network began, how might the collection have been different? What if we run this challenge again 25 years from now, in 2048? What aspects of high school life do you think will stay the same, and which will change?
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
