My Mother Would Forbid This One

My mom would be so mad that I put something this personal on here. However, I think she's quit reading my blog, so the censorship is stalled. As you already know because of my precious friend T Richmond's May blog, I got Teacher of the Year at my school. I wrote that small because I get real embarrassed at stuff like that. Now, I am NOT a bragger. I don't even know how to accept a compliment. However, when I ran across my application, I thought, "What friggin' waste, man". Then it occurred to me, before I trash this, why not post it? The funny thing is when we were standing to receive the yellow copy paper certificate of which I tossed on my way out the door because I thought it was dorky, Ken Richmond goes, "I know I won't win because mine was all about Jesus, but what else really matters....." He was hilarious because of his way of saying things, but very right. So, here goes nothing, maybe it will do more for you than it did for the anonymous panel of people who haven't been in a classroom since they were a student. The award was really something I'd just totally give back to the teachers I work with, they deserve it just as much as I do. So, sorry ya'll, I threw away the copy paper, generic certificate.

THE TEACHER OF THE YEAR ESSAY SCHMESSAY

Factors that influenced me to become a teacher were quite numerous, really. All of the factors, however, centered on a belief that I could “leave it better than I found it”. I can remember watching a lesson as a student and thinking, “That could have been so much better if…” Constantly, I was realizing that I could see more about the art and science of education than even my teachers. I became very interested in how kids learned, as opposed to what kids learned. Most of these education epiphanies occurred as an elementary student.

School was a major escape for me. I moved more than 15 times in my school career. I spent time reading anything I could get my hands on because, often, we didn’t have a phone or cable. Part of my childhood was spent in public housing which also showed me that education was the only way out (and up) for kids who started with nothing, but wanted everything. The fact that education, the way it was being done, was a diamond in the rough intrigued me. I begin to think of the possibility of “teaching kids to think” rather than teaching them disconnected facts. Education, to me, was a sure alternative to changing the future for learners. So, rather than analyze my childhood, I began to focus on learning because I knew that someday, I could be the change factor that I had so desperately needed for other kids.

As a student in middle school, I began to think if learning could be the escape for kids, why couldn’t it create a desire for thinking or even catapult them into greater things? I wondered why learning couldn’t be appealing, rather than just presented. These curiosities led me to the understanding The Paideia Principle which was that “…the schooling of a people does not complete their education…” Figuring out that I could see a need for dynamic, passionate educators who recognized kids’ needs led me to want to do one of three things: take over the class and teach it the way it was meant to be taught, rebel and do something as far from education as possible, or join the frontlines of people who were intervening on a daily basis thereby impacting our future. Eventually, because I knew that learning takes nothing for granted, I decided to be a teacher.

I knew I was gifted to do more for kids than what was ever done for me. I hadn’t realized my “gift” for facilitating and guiding learning, until I was in high school. A teacher called me to the front to explain a problem’s solution to the class. She knew she wasn’t making the class understand the concept. When I explained the difficult geometry concept to the class and was asked, by the class, to “please stay at the front and teach us”, I recognized that all these thoughts about learning were a gift and that not everyone had it. From a few excellent teachers in a sea of less than desirable, my philosophy of education developed. For as long as I can remember, I’ve known that education is the cornerstone of society.

Soon after I realized how crucial education was, I gained clarity about the effects that an excellent education could have on a child. Without an excellent education, the world would become destitute. Believing in the sense of urgency, I began to focus on the learner and not the learning. I knew that when the learner was considered first, the learning would fall into place because the child would have had a desire to learn instilled that was insatiable.

All educators make contributions. Whether an educator makes a positive contribution or not happens with every second that passes. Every single second an educator spends at work, they are contributing to the outcome of that child’s future. I consider every second I spend in education my opportunity to seize the next rung a child could climb or even the next aspiration they might capture.

From implementing the first School-wide Junior Achievement Program in an elementary school in Georgia to working with our county’s curriculum committee, every relationship and partnership contributes to what is being done for children. Mentoring a new teacher, consoling a parent, or soliciting community support---it’s all part of lasting contributions that could be a child’s turning point. It is imperative to make every second a contribution. I can step into my car each afternoon knowing that I have done everything I could do to “leave it better than I found it”.

My greatest accomplishment in education has been leaving a better performing school where my days weren’t as difficult and returning to our county’s highest poverty, highest English Language Learners’ population. Why would I consider this my greatest accomplishment? Because it is proof that I know an excellent education is something I can give to kids no matter the income, race nor environment. Taking the education plunge is not for the weak at heart, it is for those believe that you should teach kids to think and charm them into learning. It is for those, like me, who know that their successes are your accomplishments. Education is to be left by educators, better than we found it.