To every teacher. To every person that comes in contact with a child. Potential. //
You must look past what others have seen, look past what the world believes, look past what the student sees, and you MUST SEE HOPE. You must see the student for who they CAN be not who they have been. Cindy Lou saw something in the Grinch, nobody else saw. Anna saw something in Elsa that nobody wanted to see. Simba didn't know his potential until Rafiki called it out. This student had so much potential. As an educator, I had to look past what other teachers said, what the demographics said, the statistics said, what the world said, and what he believed. I had to see what God sees, HOPE. God sees restoration when the world sees turmoil. God sees hope when the world sees despair. //
Last year was rough. Slammed doors, hateful words, flipped tables, tantrums, tears, screams, laps around the school, and so much more. But as teacher I decided to look past all of that and see hope. When someone sees something in you, you may fight it, you may ignore it, but often times we rise to it.
That's exactly what this student did. He arose. He didn't arise pretty or put together. But, he rose! His growth had me in tears today. If you could understand his growth, you would be astonished. Is he where he should be? No. Is he perfect and put together. Absolutely not. But he's far better than when he entered my door.
What if every student and human had someone see hope? What if we looked at someone and didn't see their past and instead saw their future? What if we looked passed the financial status, ethnicity, background, and saw something great? What if we saw HOPE. Be more like Cindy Lou, Anna from Frozen, and Rafiki. Leave people better than you find them. We all have that power to unlock someones potential. It's a choice to see hope when others see despair.
The hope I gave this student is hope I want to give all students. Today I saw potential once again and my heart quickened. Every student has potential but we as teachers choose to see it or not to see it. But, when we choose to see hope there is so much room for magic. ❤️ #transparenteacher #fortheloveoffirstgrade
Also P.S. it's awesome to count on other educators to help flourish what took you tears to plant. We have to remember we are all in this world of education together. Districts, grade levels, type of school... does not matter. What matters is that the student comes first and we believe in who they are.
December 21, 2017