Teachers Know Best

Day in and day out, teachers practice teaching. They note what works and does not work for their students, and they adjust their plans accordingly. When it comes to teaching, teachers know best. They know what their students need and when they need it. Obvious, right? They are the professionals. But are teachers always treated like the professionals they are?

This Wednesday, two PledgeCents team members, Ricky (Co-Founder) and Miriam (Social Media/Community Manager) had the opportunity to attend a talk in a series put on by Houston A+ Challenge, a great Houston non-profit, and supported by Chevron, a Houston-based company and strong supporter of education.

Amanda Ripley, investigative journalist and author of "The Smartest Kids in the World--and How They Got That Way," gave an inspiring talk about what the best schools in the world do and do not look like.

According to Amanda's extensive research, the best schools in the world are the ones that, among other things, make the time treat their teachers like the professionals they are. Treating teachers like professionals means giving them time to work together. It means giving them time to watch each other teach and to share best practices. It means trusting that they know what is best for the students in their classroom and trusting them to adjust their teaching to meet their students' needs.

Teachers know what's best for their classroom, and here at PledgeCents, we trust them to determine what supplies, field trips, or resources will benefit their students the most. For that reason, we allow teachers to raise money for any classroom need. We don't want to limit what a teacher can and can't purchase because simply put, we aren't the education professionals; they are!

If a first year teacher sees the importance in exposing his or her students to college through a college visit field trip and has the principal's approval, we say go for it! If a different teacher's students will benefit the most from technology-powered centers in the form of iPads, we want to help that teacher raise money for those iPads. Every class in every school looks different, and every teachers is the most knowledgeable expert about what his or her class needs. Our goal is to help principal, faculty, students and the entire school be the best they can be.

If you are a teacher who has an idea about what supply or experience will help your students learn, we want to help you create a cause and raise the funds. If you are a supporter of education who believes that teachers know best, then support their efforts by investing in a classroom.

On our end, we promise to always try to do what is best for teachers and students. We hope you will always do the same!