JennieGScott.com

Category: Education

  • Teachers: You Are Entrusted with the World

     

    It’s the calm before the storm. Or maybe, really, it’s the storm before the hurricane.

    It’s the week before the kids come.

    This week, you will decorate and plan and move furniture and make copies, the weight of expectations heavy on your shoulders and the overwhelm of to do’s at the forefront of your mind. This week you will work like crazy, wishing there were more time and wondering what this year will be like and who your students will be.

    Next week, children will fill these halls and sit in your classrooms, and they will look to you expectantly. The expressions on their faces will all be different, to be sure, but the emotions will have similar roots. “Will I fit in? Will they like me? Will I be safe here?”

    You — yes, you — hold the answers to their questions.

    While you are busy making name tags and creating seating charts, the world is entrusting you with its future. You are entrusted with the world.

    Each child you see on Monday morning is a piece of the collective future we will face. Each child who looks to you for acceptance and safety is a person who will make our world better or worse, and you play a role in who they will become.

    You are entrusted with the world.

    In the day-to-day grind of working in a school, it’s easy to lose sight of so much. It’s easy to forget the sacredness of what you’re doing, and it’s easy to forget the magnitude of impacting little lives.

    Don’t let what’s easy overtake what’s important.

    Don’t forget that you are entrusted with the world.

    Here are some realities you will face this school year:

    • Your to do list will become overwhelming. When it does, remember why you’re doing any of it. Take a step back from the small details to see the big picture.
    • When your children misbehave, it’s because they’re trying to communicate something to you they can’t verbalize — “I don’t feel safe. I don’t feel smart. I feel like I don’t fit in.” Listen for what the child is trying to say.
    • You will become so exhausted you can barely lift your head. When this happens, allow yourself a break. Allow yourself to let some things go and just recharge.

     

    You are not just a teacher.

    You are a world changer. A life-imparter. A difference maker. An intelligence increaser.

    You are a hope giver and a love offerer. A safe place. A listening ear.

    You are an opportunity introducer and a ceiling smasher.

    You are a smile giver and a laugh maker.

    You are exactly what these children need, and you are ready.Monday morning is coming, ready or not, and stress will chase you down. When it does, remember who you are. Remember why you’re here. And remember you are entrusted with the world.

     

  • Some Thoughts for America’s Public School Teachers

     

    What a strange, complicated, divisive few days these have been.

    The inauguration of our new President has brought out strong emotions in virtually everyone I know, and the internet has shown me the opinions of those I’ve never met.

    I never want to contribute to the negative noise so present online, and I’m praying these words will provide hope in the midst of these times. I’m praying my words will ease the sting of words directed to you, public school teacher, and that my words will serve as a reminder that words matter, words can hurt, and though the words of others may be loud, they can still be untrue.

    It was said to our country that ours is “an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge.”

    When I heard these words spoken by a very powerful man, my eyes filled with tears. A deep sadness overtook me for what you heard and what is believed about you. Then an abiding anger made me shake and made me want to shout the truth from the rooftops.

    Although I am not currently a teacher, I am only months removed from that sacred occupation, and I know what you do and where your heart is. I know how hard you work and with what little reward. I know how disrespected you are and how negativity abounds. I know, public school teacher. I know the truth.

    I know that every day you walk into a building lacking some of the resources you need for the great needs of your students. Whether your district is rich or poor, large or small, there are needs you are ill-equipped to meet simply because you are only one in the midst of many. Your students come to you with lifetimes of struggles, problems, and situations you know nothing of, and you are expected to make them all achieve at high levels of growth (or is it proficiency?) by the end of their times with you. You are only one, but you are expected to be enough.

    I know that you spend great sums of your own money to buy novels and crayons, pillows and lamps. I know that your paycheck and your budget stretch as far as you can make them, and I know that you pile Kleenex and hand sanitizer into your cart at the grocery store. I know that the system flush with cash still isn’t enough for all you’re expected to do. I know.

    I know that you – every single day – do all you can to impart great knowledge into your students. I know that you take great pride in lessons that reach all intelligences and engage all learning styles. I know that when something doesn’t seem to be working, you reconsider and go back to square one. I know that you work all year long to prepare your students for the next test, the next assessment, the next grade, and the future. I know that knowledge is your aim, and I know that students leave your classroom with more than they came with on day one. I know that your students don’t leave you deprived of all knowledge. I know.

    I know that you take it personally when your students struggle. I’ve seen you when you cry. I’ve heard you when you feel hopeless. I’ve seen you go back and try again. I know that giving up isn’t in your character. I know that, public school teacher. I know.

    I know that you spend hours at home working to plan better, grade more, and increase engagement. I know that your home life is affected by your school life, and I know that your students are constantly in the back of your mind. I know that teachers aren’t only working when their bodies are in the school building.

    I know that respect for what you do is decreasing. I know that you hear the trash-talking from people who are uninvolved. I know that powerful people who have never worked in public schools or attended public schools or parented children in public schools are the ones demeaning your very profession and taking the reins over your careers. I know.

    I know that you care deeply for what you do and for who your children become. I know that you work tirelessly and often without thanks, and I know that excellence is your aim. Oh, how I know.

    Public school teacher, you matter. Your career matters. Your dedication to creating a well-educated, thoughtful, responsible, literate, discerning, positive country matters now more than ever. You are in a noble profession, and because of the way our world is changing, you will now have to be brave. You will have to be unwavering. You will have to reject the negativity. You will have to ignore the ignorant and educate the young. You will have to keep on keeping on when you feel like you just can’t. You will have to define success for yourself and for your children when unreasonable measures of success are imposed on you both. You will have to stand up for what is right and good when no one is standing up for you.

    You will have to do all these things, and you can. You can because you’re a teacher. And if there’s anything I learned about teachers in my years in public schools, it’s that they can do the impossible. They can do what must be done because they know the magnitude of what’s at stake.

    Teachers can do the impossible.

    You can do the impossible.

    You can, and you will.

    I just know it.

     

  • A Freebie for Teachers – No Strings Attached!

     

    Teachers are my people.

    When I was a little girl, I played nonstop with a blackboard and chalk, and as an adult, I spent nine years teaching middle and high school English.

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    I know teachers, and I love teachers.

    For that very reason, I have created something exclusively for anyone working in a school, and I am giving it away FOR FREE!

    Teachers need encouragement, so I have written a week’s worth of devotions to inspire them and motivate them in the midst of their difficult jobs.

    To receive the devotions directly to your inbox, simply click on this link! Be sure to enter the email address where you wish to receive them. You’ll get the first email Monday, September 19th, and they will continue throughout the week!

    Feel free to share this post with any teachers you know. Let’s spread a positive message throughout our schools!