Recently, I had the opportunity to go back to my home county school system and spend three days reconnecting with some of my old teachers and administrators. I cannot begin to explain how refreshing that this experience was for me. So many times I have taken for granted the fact of coming from a loving home with loving parents who cared about my education and even further a community and educational professionals who also believed in me. After being in college for three years, I had become somewhat disconnected from educational mentors or now people who I would call colleagues and some even friends. This blog post is all about the heart of a teacher, to start off please enjoy this video about what teachers make and I don't mean their huge salaries.
While some of the thoughts in this video may not be the most politically correct way of explaining the heart of a teacher they most definitely are the product of passion and desire to make a difference. While all of the strategies talked about are not the most effective the overall message of the video is what I hope you take away.
Every day teachers wake up not only making the decision to have a good day but also to make a difference in a childs life.
What a huge amount of power that each of these individuals hold. Every single day they have the power to make a positive or negative difference in the life of a child. Showing these children love and compassion may be what gets them to the next day, unfortunately this may be all the attention they get. As a future teacher this may be one of saddest yet most rewarding portions of the job. I believe that each of us care about the entire child and wish to educate the entire child, no matter to what extent this takes. During my visit I was able to reconnect with a lady by the name of Mrs. Kathy Lewis. While myself and a few of my teaching fellow colleagues toured Columbus County Schools, Mrs. Lewis devoted a large amount of her time to us to ensure the success and enjoyment of our trip. And I will add that she shared with us many funny yet learning experience moments. She gave us many tips over the course of the three days we were there but a couple of things stuck out and weigh heavy on my mind. The first is the power that a teacher holds on the life of every child they come in contact with. We have no idea what each and every child we teach is going through unless we build a RELATIONSHIP with that child. Every teacher has a passion for what they do and ultimately believes in all of their students. This video talks about the heart of a teacher, something that I believe that we should all model as we embark on our professional journey as an educator or whatever our chosen career path may be.
The most profound statement that I heard all week has really weighed heavy on my heart. Mrs. Lewis shared that she begin the first day of every class with something like this..."I don't care where you are or what you are going through, I can offer you something better". Never have I heard a more true statement. This still humbles me beyond no measurement, to know that I have the power to impact someones life so drastically as to offer them something better than they currently have or had. Just think of the students who have to work to feed their families, who are physically and/or emotionally abused at home and a long list of other things. We as educators are in the profession of making impacts and differences in their lives.
How rewarding is it to know that we have the power to offer something better to truly change the direction of a child's life. No matter what school or district we teach in we will always find students who need to be offered something better. Who need to know that there is a way out, that they are not stuck in what they are currently in or have been in.
I write this blog in appreciation of the passion that Mrs. Lewis has to make a difference in the lives of her students as well as to say thank you for refueling my desire to do the same. With this last video I hope that each of you reading this will find a teacher or educator and simply tell them thank you for their dedication and passion. Thank you Mrs. Kathy!
The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same,
Matt
Every day teachers wake up not only making the decision to have a good day but also to make a difference in a childs life.
What a huge amount of power that each of these individuals hold. Every single day they have the power to make a positive or negative difference in the life of a child. Showing these children love and compassion may be what gets them to the next day, unfortunately this may be all the attention they get. As a future teacher this may be one of saddest yet most rewarding portions of the job. I believe that each of us care about the entire child and wish to educate the entire child, no matter to what extent this takes. During my visit I was able to reconnect with a lady by the name of Mrs. Kathy Lewis. While myself and a few of my teaching fellow colleagues toured Columbus County Schools, Mrs. Lewis devoted a large amount of her time to us to ensure the success and enjoyment of our trip. And I will add that she shared with us many funny yet learning experience moments. She gave us many tips over the course of the three days we were there but a couple of things stuck out and weigh heavy on my mind. The first is the power that a teacher holds on the life of every child they come in contact with. We have no idea what each and every child we teach is going through unless we build a RELATIONSHIP with that child. Every teacher has a passion for what they do and ultimately believes in all of their students. This video talks about the heart of a teacher, something that I believe that we should all model as we embark on our professional journey as an educator or whatever our chosen career path may be. The most profound statement that I heard all week has really weighed heavy on my heart. Mrs. Lewis shared that she begin the first day of every class with something like this..."I don't care where you are or what you are going through, I can offer you something better". Never have I heard a more true statement. This still humbles me beyond no measurement, to know that I have the power to impact someones life so drastically as to offer them something better than they currently have or had. Just think of the students who have to work to feed their families, who are physically and/or emotionally abused at home and a long list of other things. We as educators are in the profession of making impacts and differences in their lives.
How rewarding is it to know that we have the power to offer something better to truly change the direction of a child's life. No matter what school or district we teach in we will always find students who need to be offered something better. Who need to know that there is a way out, that they are not stuck in what they are currently in or have been in.
I write this blog in appreciation of the passion that Mrs. Lewis has to make a difference in the lives of her students as well as to say thank you for refueling my desire to do the same. With this last video I hope that each of you reading this will find a teacher or educator and simply tell them thank you for their dedication and passion. Thank you Mrs. Kathy!
The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same,
Matt
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