“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

-Maya Angelou

      My Momma always used to tell my sisters and I that the greatest gift you can give your children is the ability to read and to foster a love of reading. Thanks to her, in my life I have read countless books, but never finished a single one. I will never be done with a book, content to say I will never pick it back up. It is in that same manner that I have always approached learning. I don't think you should ever stop learning, growing, and never shut your mind, because the moment you do you forego the opportunity to ever expand your thinking. We live in a constantly changing world, and our children are faced with a society that places very high expectations on appearance and lower expectations on what is inside. I believe as humans and educators it is our job to give students the tools to build themselves up and always keep teaching them.

      I don't believe there is such a thing as a "stupid" or "dumb" student. Ignorance is not always able to be helped, but with the right effort and guidance, I believe every student is capable of learning. We must stop punishing our students for being ignorant of a subject or a word, or for being unable to follow the path we lay out. We need to teach ourselves to help accommodate different learning styles and ability levels, recognizing these young people are charged with learning and we, with teaching. That is our direction, which gives both us and them the freedom to figure out what works, together, to ensure every student can figure it out. For my classes, learning will be entrenched in literature. Books can do so much and help teach so many lessons, especially in allowing them to put themselves in other positions and learn about other types of people. Books are universal, and I firmly believe there is a type of book out there for everyone, and finding this opens so many doors for a person, not only in learning about the world, past, present, and the human condition, but also about themselves.

      In this spirit, frequent solo and group reading, building a strong vocabulary, and creating a relaxed and open-minded environment will be daily focus points in my classroom. I believe in challenging students, both in the work we have them do, and in the relationships we help them build. Building a community among them is paramount in my eyes. Encouraging changing partners, seating arrangements, and group activities will allow students to learn how to speak to a range of different people in a polite and friendly manner, and will also show them how to analyze meaning based on context. Building a respectful, open place for them to be themselves is the first step in fostering growth. Our students are so much more capable than we sometimes give them credit for, and I plan to challenge that, not by lowering the standards, but to raise my students up. My task as an educator will be more than directing and grading, and in my classroom I hope to lead my students in productive dialogue, and help them grow and learn beyond district standards.

    

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