Kicking off a new school year…

Tomorrow I will begin my ninth year of teaching.  This is my 9th year of preservice trainings.  My 9th year of new initiatives and new ideas for transforming our classrooms.  My 9th year of detailed explanations about why my assessment data should be better.
It’s easy to drown in all the minutia of school, the directives and new pedagogy that will revolutionize teaching.  Sometimes it’s important to reflect and remember why we do what we do.
I don’t teach because I want to transform my students into test taking masters.  I don’t teach because I relish the thought of torturing my students with stories they won’t care about.  I teach because I know that I can help guide my students toward a better understanding of who they are.
This year my grade level counterparts and I are focusing on three themes in Language Arts: survival, identity, and hope.  I want my kids to read and write in my class, not solely to become prolific readers and writers.  I want my kids to read and write in my class to discover who they are and to realize that who they are MATTERS.  I teach world changers.  I teach kids who can move mountains and innovate.  I’m teaching the generation that will find peace in the chaos.  I teach so that my students will see the good in the world, to show them that there is hope for the future.  I teach them so that I can remind MYSELF that there is hope in the world.
Tomorrow I will walk through those doors and look into the eyes of my students, and I will be happy knowing that the future is in their hands.
As you go about your school year, I wish you all the best and hope that you take some time to reflect.  Remember that it’s not about a test, or a reading score, or a grade.  It’s not about instituting the correct lesson plan format or the correct note-taking strategy.  It’s about ensuring that your students walk out of your classroom a better person than when they entered it, that they are more prepared for their future, and most importantly that they are ready to make the world a better place.