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| A gift from one of my students last year. |
Far too often we hear the phrase, "I'm just a teacher." I am here to tell you that I am Not Just a Teacher, and neither are you! Yes, “Teacher” may be our job title, but we are so much more than that. I am a teacher, a mentor, a friend, a voice, and even some days as an elementary teacher, I'm a doctor.
We work in the greatest profession in the world! There are difficult days, and lulls that can last far too long, but it is during those difficult times when we realize why we became an educator. It is the opportunity to make a positive impact on each student that you encounter. It’s creating an Ah-Ha moment, it’s bringing a smile to someone’s face, it’s helping those who struggled, and pushing those who understand to greater heights. It’s showing a student they have the ability to do anything they set their mind to.
Sometimes we are overwhelmed by the expectations that come with our job and the weight of those expectations wear us down. Each of us has something that we lean on that helps us cope with these daily expectations. I will be the first to tell you that I love technology. Technology is something I use in my classroom to deepen the learning and engage my students. We use to for student projects, we use it to learn how to code, we use it for Langauge Arts and the list goes on and on. It is also something that I use personally everyday. I use it to research articles, learn about the newest gadgets, I use it to beta-test new apps and programs and to research the latest emerging technologies. But, I will tell you, it’s not the about the technology and how I use it in the classroom. It’s about the relationships that we build with students on a daily basis and the impacts these relationships will have for years to come. It’s these relationships that we build with our students that tell them “YOU Matter!”
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| You Matter Manifesto from angelamaiers.com |
I have been very fortunate over my lifetime to have a support system that is second to none, and it is because of that support system and those relationships that I am the person I am today.
So, go out, stay the course, even when it’s tough and you don’t think you can go on, continue to be amazing and continue building those relationships with students and others. It’s those relationships that will impact the future….both theirs and yours.
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