It's about time that teachers receive at least as much recognition as do TV celebrities! It is the teachers of America who work diligently each day in their respective classrooms "wearing many more hats" than any other actor ever wears in a single Emmy season.
Today's American teachers are asked to be and actually take on the part of a parent when a child needs consoling. They act as nurses when one of their students falls on the playground resulting in a scraped knee. They are artists when their classrooms are decorated in all colors of the rainbow---for every single season, holiday, or celebration all year long. They take on the work of writers when asked to help work on the school newspaper or yearbook, and even help write an IEP---usually, at no additional financial compensation. They often feel that they must almost become attorneys when needing to defend their own classroom discipline methods to parents and supervisors. With NCLB, teachers are directors and cheerleaders who are asked to teach and encourage students so they will pass the tests. Yes, these American teachers even become actors in their own classrooms when they don the costume of a Tom Sawyer or Anne Frank to make a literature unit "come alive" for their students.
Each year, more responsibilities are taken on by American educators who teach an entire day and then go home to plan for the other lessons to come, often after picking up their own children from school, preparing dinner, and caring for their own families. It is time to televise the Emmys for our teachers in this country. They deserve the real trophies and adulation. What a virtual reality show that would be! Dr. Bill Cosby would be a great host!