I guard during the day
I teach
I play
I dole out friendship
I dull pain
I am safety
Providing safe places to lay

I create
I save
I am a model
On how to behave
I am calm
Clean and shaven
Bent, shoe-tieing
Stretching to the heavens
Exercising more than bodies
Ages zero to eleven

I am a teacher
That's my title on my shirt
My students call me Mr.
"But you're daycare!" You blurt
I frown and sigh
An 'insult' meant to hurt
But I know you can't have one without the other
Like having trees without dirt
So is a teacher to daycare provider
That's the title on my shirt