in my past life, I was a hero
I didn’t keep much of my “teacher” stuff after I headed back to graduate school, because I knew that it wouldn’t be appearing again. I gave it away to as many classroom friends as I could… spreading the love of manipulatives and homemade handouts and lesson plans. But I did keep some mementos… like this one…
I taught Algebra and Physics, while I had an amazing partner teacher in the room next door who taught our students English and History. One of their writing assignments was a “hero report” and obviously the class selected a gamut of people ranging from grandparents to sports figures to political leaders. One day, a student asked if she could “borrow” a picture from the photofile on my desk. It had photos from class and home in it (and one of me as a certain costumed character, so that I could prove just how super cool I was in my off-hours), so I let her borrow the one above.
A few days later, I saw this essay posted on the bulletin board between our classrooms. I’m not going to lie… I totally teared up. As a teacher, I took on many different roles in the classroom as a mentor to students, but whenever I saw evidence that what I was doing was working, I’d capture that moment. Because on that ride, there were so many tearful days that weren’t full of happy tears.
Some days it’s hard to be far removed from that personal one-on-one level working in education. I know that the work I do has the capacity to impact students on a large scale around the world, but some days I miss walking into that classroom and teaching my heart out.
At least I have this memento to remember that I succeeded in the eyes of at least one student…
12 Comments
Cathleya
Love :)
Maggie
Love this!
Tamara
omg, this almost made ME cry. that’s amazing. good work :)
HamiHarri
Me too!
serena
Love this!!
michelle
Tearing up over here. I’ve always known what an amazing, inspirational, superhero of a woman you are. It’s pretty cool to see that others (kiddos!!) feel the same way – feel it so strongly that they wrote an essay about it.
Mandy
Awesome. That’s great that you can keep this memento! Anytime you’re having a bad day, just think of that!!
Michelle
I’m not a teacher, as you know, but I work with amazing students and I love when they get excited to see me week after week and verbalize how much they love our program. The connection I get to make with students really makes this job amazing. I try to picture myself out of direct service and its tough. More money but not the connections I get to make. Those are valuable. I’m glad you have positive experiences to look back on!
Michelle @ A Little P
So sweet. It’s a good feeling to know that you’ve made a difference!
Julia
It’s so important to keep stuff like this! You’ve touched so many lives, and I hope this memento never lets you forget it :)
Layla
LOVE IT. I had a teacher that was my hero, and he still is. We’ve kept in touch, and he is retiring this year. I think it’s really important for teachers to know how much they’re appreciated and what a difference they’ve made in our lives, if they have. It’s wonderful that you have this!
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