Making a Difference
Hello again! Thank you all for continuing to read this poorly written blog every week, I promise it will only get better from here ;)
Following last week's angry rant about how deplorable the education system is, I felt that this week's post needed a lighter note.
As a child, I always wanted to "play school." Being a teacher was something I thought about doing before I even realized it. I've always felt called to teaching, even when I went through a spell where I really didn't care for children. Of course, as I grew up and decided what kind of teacher I was going to be, I soon realized that there are many pros, but also many cons to teaching.
Probably the biggest con of all is the amount of pay. I spend 4 long years, and lots of money to get a degree, and spend day after day trying and attempting to teach "America's Future" hoping that just one of them gets it, all to end up being one of the lowest paid people in the U.S. Now, as an adult, I don't ever remember hearing one of my teacher's say that they started teaching for the money...well, that's because they never did. No one becomes a teacher for the paycheck. They all become a teacher for one specific reason....to make a difference.
Making a difference in a child's life is possibly the most important anyone will ever do. I say anyone because teachers aren't the only ones who make a difference. It could be a preacher, a policeman, a mother or father, a sibling, or even a stranger that you pass on the street. Everyone that you meet, has had the opportunity to make an impact on your life, to affect your future in some way. Some may have been positive, and some negative, but most people have had the experience of knowing one particular teacher that they still think about today, that they will always remember as the teacher that helped them succeed.
That's the teacher that I strive to be. I've always said that I didn't have to make a difference in every child's life, but if I could make a difference for one child, then it was all worth it. That statement will always hold true.
Teachers make such a lasting impact on a student's life that there have been multiple studies done on that very thing. In one study conducted by CNN, their report states that "The effect of a good teacher on a child's life is monumental. In financial terms, the study notes that replacing a teacher whose true value-added is in the bottom 5% with a teacher of average quality would generate lifetime earnings gains worth more than $250,000 for the average classroom. On the other hand, 'If you leave a low value-added teacher in your school for 10 years, rather than replacing him with an average teacher, you are hypothetically talking about $2.5 million in lost income,' said Friedman."
I believe this to be true, because there are so many students in this country who are living at or below the poverty level, so many who are living on their own, or in foster homes; and there are many more who are silent abuse victims, who go home every day in fear that they might not make it to the next Monday. Because of teachers who care about knowing their students, who care about being more than just a teacher, these children have a safe place at school where they feel at home and they can learn and grow without fear. This in turn promotes learning and therefore when they are ready to move on to the next grade or graduate, they are confident and prepared for success.
So you see, making a difference is more than just going to work and being a teacher every day. Teachers wear many hats, and those that go above and beyond for their students are the ones that are remembered forever as heroes.
Following last week's angry rant about how deplorable the education system is, I felt that this week's post needed a lighter note.
As a child, I always wanted to "play school." Being a teacher was something I thought about doing before I even realized it. I've always felt called to teaching, even when I went through a spell where I really didn't care for children. Of course, as I grew up and decided what kind of teacher I was going to be, I soon realized that there are many pros, but also many cons to teaching.
Probably the biggest con of all is the amount of pay. I spend 4 long years, and lots of money to get a degree, and spend day after day trying and attempting to teach "America's Future" hoping that just one of them gets it, all to end up being one of the lowest paid people in the U.S. Now, as an adult, I don't ever remember hearing one of my teacher's say that they started teaching for the money...well, that's because they never did. No one becomes a teacher for the paycheck. They all become a teacher for one specific reason....to make a difference.
Making a difference in a child's life is possibly the most important anyone will ever do. I say anyone because teachers aren't the only ones who make a difference. It could be a preacher, a policeman, a mother or father, a sibling, or even a stranger that you pass on the street. Everyone that you meet, has had the opportunity to make an impact on your life, to affect your future in some way. Some may have been positive, and some negative, but most people have had the experience of knowing one particular teacher that they still think about today, that they will always remember as the teacher that helped them succeed.
That's the teacher that I strive to be. I've always said that I didn't have to make a difference in every child's life, but if I could make a difference for one child, then it was all worth it. That statement will always hold true.
Teachers make such a lasting impact on a student's life that there have been multiple studies done on that very thing. In one study conducted by CNN, their report states that "The effect of a good teacher on a child's life is monumental. In financial terms, the study notes that replacing a teacher whose true value-added is in the bottom 5% with a teacher of average quality would generate lifetime earnings gains worth more than $250,000 for the average classroom. On the other hand, 'If you leave a low value-added teacher in your school for 10 years, rather than replacing him with an average teacher, you are hypothetically talking about $2.5 million in lost income,' said Friedman."
I believe this to be true, because there are so many students in this country who are living at or below the poverty level, so many who are living on their own, or in foster homes; and there are many more who are silent abuse victims, who go home every day in fear that they might not make it to the next Monday. Because of teachers who care about knowing their students, who care about being more than just a teacher, these children have a safe place at school where they feel at home and they can learn and grow without fear. This in turn promotes learning and therefore when they are ready to move on to the next grade or graduate, they are confident and prepared for success.
So you see, making a difference is more than just going to work and being a teacher every day. Teachers wear many hats, and those that go above and beyond for their students are the ones that are remembered forever as heroes.
Comments
Post a Comment