Eleven years of teaching in high-needs schools proved to be a fulfilling calling. The rewards of my days in the classroom keep appearing when I see or hear from former students.
Yesterday my son and I were in a local department store purchasing
a gift for a friends’ birthday. One of
my former students waited on us. This
student was a teen mom who often considered dropping out of school. Thankfully, she did not. I haven’t seen her in five years, so you can imagine
my delight when she proudly told me she’s about to finish her certificate to
become a nursing assistant.
Another
former student from my days on the Cherokee Indian Reservation contacted me
recently. Her note to me—“I have always had it in the back of my mind to find you
and let you know that my senior year English class with you solely, totally
prepared me for all the papers I had to do at Western (Carolina University)! So
for that--thank you!!” This
student is now a teacher and is happily married with two children.
Though I haven’t been a regular classroom teacher for four years now, my role as a teacher leader continues in the
capacity in which I currently serve as a support for teachers and leaders. I’m delighted when teachers I’ve mentored
share with me their successes. I enjoy hearing about the students and even working with them from time to time because I believe it’s
important for us to remember —it’s about “our kids,” not
“my kids.” We have to work together to
provide children and teens the learning experiences they deserve.
Working together was exactly my experience last week when I
attended a conference in San Diego, California.
Designed to celebrate and elevate effective teachers and teaching
(ECET2), this event, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
fulfilled its promise of uplifting the teaching profession and reminding us all
why we became teachers. Three teachers
delivered the keynote address—“Cultivating a Calling.” I dare say there was hardly a dry eye in the pavilion
after these teacher leaders shared their stories. And people tell me I take my profession too
seriously? How can I not? I am an educator through and through.
I returned from the conference feeling invigorated, refreshed,
and ready to continue this important work of working on the work, as a
colleague is fond of saying. Too often
in our profession, we see a lack of respect for educators, or we see a divide
between administrators and teachers. Let’s
blur the lines between leading and teaching and remember why we entered this
profession in the first place.
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| An early morning trip to the Pacific Ocean with my colleague circle group at ECET2. We watched the sunrise and were back in time for a fabulous final day of the conference. The power of collaboration! |
