Teacher Appreciation Week shines a spotlight on educators

As May 6 through 10 is Teacher Appreciation Week, the spotlight is on educators across the nation and the work they do. In a statement, Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education, said that these five days are a time to listen to the 3.2 million instructors who work in classrooms across the country and find out what can be done to help them and their students succeed.

First-grade teacher Marsha Isip is one teacher who dedicates her days to making sure her students are ready for the challenges that await them in and outside of academia, WBBJ-TV reported. Isip, who has worked as an instructor for the past 20 years, told the news source that a teacher's responsibilities do not end when students go home. She actually spends much of her weekends and even time off researching lessons and other ways of enhancing her kids' knowledge.

Helping her students prepare for the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-10) is another one of Isip's responsibilities, which she believes is necessary.

"We need to have a standard that all kids need to meet and teachers need to meet," Isip told the news outlet. "I am OK with them being tested. I just want them to be fairly tested."