A letter to my students,
I've always wanted to be a teacher, but I honestly started
out thinking that I would teach college students. My big plan was to get my Doctorate in
Medieval Studies, teach at a university, and write books about my hero, Eleanor
of Aquitaine. But in high school I
became more involved in volunteer work with young children and I quickly realized
that I was meant to follow a different path.
I fell in love with early childhood education. It ignited something powerful within me and I
realized as a college student that I was not just pursuing a career in
teaching, I was pursuing a passion.
Lately though, that fire and passion have waned. What used to be a ginormous volcano, unable
to be contained, has turned into a candle that lately has been flickering
precariously. Today the flame actually
went out for a bit. The ache in my heart
when that happened is still pushing on my chest. It is heavy; consuming me. It's not what I
want and I'm reaching out to get the fire going again. My first step is to make some promises to
myself, and more importantly, to you.
1. I promise to never
look at you as a number on a piece of paper.
Current education practices have your test data attached to my professional
evaluation. Some teachers will look at
that and start teaching you what is on the tests so that their growth scores
will show gains and their evaluation will be high. I refuse.
You are a living, breathing person.
A test score doesn't show your heart.
It doesn't show your dedication or the obstacles that you have overcome. You look to me to make your first few years
of school engaging, exciting and jam packed with learning experiences. Your worth cannot be seen on the results of a
test that you took three brief times over the course of ten months. I cannot be a highly effective teacher and
say that those numbers compiled from six hours of your school experience
determine your worth. What I can do is
watch, observe, collect information, then teach YOU because your true worth is immeasurable.
2. I promise that I will
not only teach YOU, but I will teach
you starting from where you are at, not where policy makers and non-educators
claim that you should be. I will use the
data I collect from my many hours with you in the classroom to create a plan to
make you successful in the classroom.
Sometimes the path to success will be a steep hill that we both huff and
puff to climb, but climb it we will. Then
we'll slide on down, celebrate and prepare ourselves for the next hill. We'll laugh, cry, and make a lot of wrinkles
in our brains. And we'll do it together.
3. I promise that I
will do all that I can to make your time at school comforting and safe. I know I'm not Wonder Woman, but I do know
that I have a powerful impact on your life.
I'll love you to pieces, scold you, encourage you, and push you. I'll do all that I can to instill a lifelong
love for learning in you. I'll work hard
to give you the skills that you need to be successful in and out of the
classroom. And I'll give you all the
hugs and kind words that you need.
4. I promise to not
allow the higher ups to bully me into practices that I know are not
developmentally appropriate. I spent six
years in college studying early childhood education and development, I've been
in the classroom since 1996, and I am a National Board Certified Teacher. I am not an idiot. I do actually know what I am doing and I WILL be confident in that knowledge. I will no longer let these practices creep
into our classroom and consume us. I
will make my classroom a safe place to explore, create, learn and expand. I will do right by YOU.
5. I promise to
never, ever let my light go out again. YOU are the reason I am here. The reason I get up each morning. I carry each of your successes deep in my
heart and your disappointments too. You
will forever be one of my babies, even as you don your cap and gown and I watch
you move on to bigger and better things.
You are my why. Not senators,
businessmen, or test makers. Not
superintendents, principals, or supervisors.
YOU. You are my passion, my love, and my chosen
path. I have found my voice and I refuse
to be silent, allowing us both to be run over or pushed aside. Together we will make amazing changes and show
tremendous growth. Together we will
become the best people we can be.
Together we will be amazing.
Love,
Mrs. S
