i promise...

10th January 2012

Post reblogged from soo boo. with 19 notes

i promise…

needless to say that the past months have been incredibly challenging and emotionally draining. learning how to be a teacher, let alone a good one, had me really questioning if i could really ever become the teacher that i idealistically promised myself i would be while i was still in school.

i got jaded far faster than i ever imagined and sometimes i feel a sense of defeat in the classroom that prickles at my identity as a teacher far less than it should. but the past two days have been a really good reminder or why i am where i am, and why i not only should be here, but why i need to be here.

this week, i witnessed a fellow “teacher” (and i will use this term loosely when it comes to her) pretty much saying that she has given up on one of my students. she pulls him from my room about twice a week for 20 minutes of reading intervention, but loudly announced yesterday in front of my whole class, that he was hopeless, was probably going to fail this year, and that she didn’t want to waste her time with someone like him.

i went to go talk to her today about how upset i was by how she spoke to my student and how words like that could incredibly damage him in ways that we might not even know. she told me that what she said was the truth, she had no faith in him, she has given up on him and that it was too late for him…that didn’t i know that pennsylvania decided how many more prisons were needed based on 3rd grade test scores? and that because this student is in 4th grade now, it’s too late for him?? and furthermore, i didn’t understand because i’m not black… and she is. (i won’t even get into this part here…)

as you can imagine, i got extremely upset and heated up, especially because the student she was referring to is a bright kid; our class clown who comes up with witty and incredibly smart things. he can also be a really hard worker and i have seen him really push himself to do his absolute best in the classroom….she obviously had no idea who this student really is and what he is capable of…

i’ll refrain from the inappropriate things i wanted to say to her in my head and some of things that actually made it out of my mouth, but the point is that i want to really promise myself, promise the kids i have now, and promise every single student that will walk through my classroom in the future, that i will never EVER become like this teacher. and if i ever do, i’ll have enough sense to remove myself from a job working with kids.

i will never tell a kid that he is hopeless

i will never stop trying to teach a kid because i think he’s hopeless.

and while i might be deluding myself from reality, i will never ever let myself believe that one of my students is destined for prison because of how he scores on his standardized tests.

i know i can’t change the world, that many situations are beyond the capabilities of one person, and that some of my students may indeed end up in prison…but i will NEVER be the person to tell my students that they can’t, or that success is out of their reach. in fact, i want to be the teacher that tells her students at every opportunity that they ARE smart enough, capable enough, whatever enough to achieve success.

and to all those who are writing me off (as this teacher clearly did) as a naive, idealistic first year teacher who doesnt fully know what its like to work with these kinds of kids yet…blah blah blah. i dont care. because id rather be idealistic and naive forever than EVER become a jaded asshole like you.

Any education major should read this! So inspiring!!

Source: sooboo

Pressing for an Answer

i promise…