I read numerous blogs...many
of them written by educators. I follow numerous people on
Twitter....many of them educators. The other day, I re-tweeted a tweet
that said
"Dear America, teachers are the
solution to education, not the problem" (@hiphughes).
I was excited because several
of my colleagues re-tweeted my re-tweet.
There was another tweet from
Edutopia called 6 Characteristics at the heart of teaching and the
blog article that was attached: "The Heart of Teaching: What it means
to be a Great Teacher" written by Rusul Alrubail. The article talks about
qualities like kindness, compassion, empathy, positivity, being a builder,
and being inspirational.
What does anyone really want from
schools?
I once had a student tell me that
grades K-12 are about reading, writing and arithmetic but
school is really just to teach children how to play
nice with others. It is a time when you learn to communicate.
He felt that the real learning happened as you were older and
learned what it was you wanted to be.
I have had graduates come back and
see me and thank me for always just being there; for being supportive no matter
how many mistakes they made.
I have had graduates email me and
tell me how fabulously they are doing and how much they enjoy college and wish
they had someone like me to help them.
I have had graduates come back and
tell me how they are still looking for what it is they want to do.
We have recently entered the testing "season". It gives me ulcers. It causes me so much stress....I can barely turn my head some days. I was getting a room of students ready to test the other day. I told them if they heard a thump, it would be me hitting the floor because I passed out. I was so anxious. I was nervous and so were they. We survived.
We have recently entered the testing "season". It gives me ulcers. It causes me so much stress....I can barely turn my head some days. I was getting a room of students ready to test the other day. I told them if they heard a thump, it would be me hitting the floor because I passed out. I was so anxious. I was nervous and so were they. We survived.
No one has ever come back and said,
"Thanks! You really prepared me for that test!"
No matter how hard I have been on a
student challenging them to do more....No matter how much I have tried to
help my students with their academics, their life plans,
their vision of the future
NO ONE HAS EVER COME BACK TO THANK
ME FOR THEIR PERFORMANCE ON A STANDARDIZED TEST.
