You Are.

We plan, and plan and plan some more. We prepare. We show up and pour our heart into the lessons hoping and praying that the students will grasp the concepts. We re-word and re-explain, draw picture and diagrams, probe and prompt until those little ones show us that they can independently do the work we are trying to get them to do. And then we cheer them on as they show us they can do it. We celebrate with their successes. Our hearts are heavy with their failures. And we try and try and try again knowing that each of those littles have it in them to succeed. We welcome them into our classrooms, but more than that we welcome them into our hearts. We love them. When they walk out of the door at the end of the day, we stare at the scraps on the floor, the chairs haphazardly stacked, the books strewn about and we take a deep breath. We are exhausted, yet fulfilled. Our desk are filled with papers to correct, notes to write, grades to enter- tell tale signs of the baby steps we have accomplished that day in our quest to help each child succeed.

They come to us loved. tattered. well fed. broken. confused. weary. lost. cared for. tired. well rested. joyful. hungry. upset- day after day they come. And we come. exhausted. excited. worn out. rejuvenated.  disheartened. uplifted. hopeful- day after day we come. Together, through the trying days, the trials, the tears, the success stories, the triumphs, the celebrations- we become a family.

We are teachers. This is not our duty. This is not our obligation. This is not our job. This is our passion. To fill them with knowledge, skills, strategies, accomplishments, successes, but most importantly to fill them with hope. Because they- in all their tattered, broken, beautiful states of being are our future. They depend on us, but we depend on them.


There are many messages I wish to convey as a teacher. Of course, my desire is that students carry each and every message and lesson with them as they go, but I know that is just not a realistic expectation. However, if only one message in the world sticks, my desire would be that they would know how much they mean and matter to this world. That they know they are unique, loved, special, cared for. That they know that their lives are changing the world, even today at eight years old.

That message is so critically important to me that I want the students to hear it, to see it, to take it in every single day. This bulletin board has been a long time in the making, and it finally made its debut this week in our classroom. And at the end of the day, I think I may need it just as much as the students need it.

As we walk through this tainted, broken world, it tells us that these things are not true. It whispers in our ear every contradictory message. It screams in our faces "YOU ARE NOT..." I want my students to know the truth. I want to know the truth. Every. Single. Day...

"YOU ARE"