It Will Take A Teacher

“For 31 years I have stood in front of a classroom and looked into children’s faces. From that perspective I see what they sometimes fail to see – potential. A lot of students don’t see their own potential because they are blinded by their faults. The greatest role of a teacher is to reflect back to students the light you see in their eyes.”
As children enter the world today they will rely on what generations of Americans have always relied on to survive – confidence, worth and hope. The ability of people to struggle and persevere is what brought our country through the great depression and two world wars. It is what has enabled Americans to have the courage to invent, discover and create our way to leadership in the world. The world has not stayed the same during the past and it will not stay the same in the future. Information seen as essential to educational standards today will soon be outdated. There will always be a challenge. There will always be a struggle. There will always be change. If we arm our children with the right tools, they will be prepared to face all three.
There will be new ideas, new discoveries and new creative works that will change our future as much as our past has changed. This will not be accomplished by people who have to but want to follow their dreams. As educators, the will to learn is what we must nurture most in our next generation. The passion to seek one’s purpose in life is what we must encourage in our children. The only real standards our children must meet for their future are the ones they set for themselves. It is their expectations and goals that will matter most to them. It is their journey they must walk. It is their dreams that must come true.
To begin to solve the problems in education today we need more than just government programs and taxpayer’s money. Buildings, textbooks, curriculums, educational standards are all fine but most of all we need teachers who know how to connect with students. All the educational theories past, present and future can never replace the impact one human being can have on another in the classroom. It will take more than a sound bite on television or a campaign promise to make our students believe in themselves – it will take a person who believes in them. In life it takes a parent, grandparent, neighbor and friend. In education – it will take a teacher.
– Tom KrauseTeaching Outside the Box: How to Grab Your Students By Their Brains