I See a Story

As I sit at the counter typing up a few lesson plans for the week, I can’t help but be excited to get back to my sixth graders tomorrow. As much as I have loved every second of my (unexpected) long weekend, it’s time for me to get back in the classroom again.

In creating my lessons, looking up standards, and writing objectives, I keep thinking about the individual uniqueness of each of my students. Due to the current culture of education, many times teachers are pressured to look at their students and see a test score floating above their heads. Or perhaps, we are supposed to look out and see which students are proficient, which ones need an intervention, or which ones are quickly falling farther and farther behind and need immediate help.

However, when I look out at each individual student, I see a story that cannot be summed up in any type of label, number, letter, or score. I see stories of students who are trying desperately to find their place in their communities, their school, and the world. I see stories of students are trying to navigate the treacherous waters of growing up, making and keeping friends, and deciding who they want to be. I see stories of students trying to turn their lives around despite everything that is holding them back and stories of students who want to succeed but don’t know where to start. I see stories that contain more challenges and uphill battles than I have experienced in my own 22 years. I see stories of courage, faith, and resiliency.  While some stories have common threads and themes, they are all incredibly different, heart warming, and inspiring in their own ways.

As a teacher, I am constantly wondering how I can help shape these individual stories. I know that I cannot change what has already been written, but what can I, as an educator, write in these stories that’s more than a test score, an assignment, or a grade? Maybe I can be the one who says just the right thing to help a student see the value of an education. Maybe I can be that role model someone has been desperately looking for everywhere. Maybe I can be the one that writes, “I believe in you.”