Impact

Days are hard.  The challenges are unending.  Praise is infrequent.  Mandates pile up.  You are never fully prepared.  Chasing a moving target.  Morale is not fantastic.  There has to be a reason why we continue... 

Everyone can make an impact.  In schools, we often don't know if we made an impact in the moment.  It can be hours, days, months or even years when we realize the impact we have made on other people.  In these special moments as an educator, you realize the importance of your work and your dedication to kids over time.

Day to day school life flies by.  You run around teaching kids, consoling kids, modeling expectations and balancing adult interactions while always keeping the best in mind for students and your school.  You always deal with the unexpected when it comes up, because that is what you have to do.  You take time to listen to the concerns of a student or the fears they are sharing about school life.  You teach tolerance and how to be a good friend, while hoping everyone will listen and apply it to their own life.

Through all of this you establish relationships with kids.  You learn about them, their strengths and weaknesses, and what motivates them to learn or have fun.  You spend hours and hours pouring into the students you work with, never really knowing what the end result will be.  It is the nature of our jobs as educators.

Sometimes you see small glimpses of the impact you are making.  When a student is struggling and you show up in the moment, they quietly respond to you when they wouldn't for others.  When you take their hand to walk them down the hall and they squeeze your hand as you are walking.  When they look you in the eyes and then immediately respond appropriately to the request that was made to them multiple times.  When they are having a rough day and a short conversation with you starts to turn the day around.  YOU REALIZE IMPACT.

When you are walking at a business, outside of school, in the evening and you spot a student.  Their head is down as they walk hand in hand with a parent.  They glance up, lock eyes with you, and immediately display the biggest smile you have seen all day and a sudden pep in their step.  This, is how you measure IMPACT.  Although it is hard to be an educator: today, last year, always... you better believe, I'll be back at it tomorrow.

Time with Kids

Every week feels different and for whatever reason, this week seemed long. We are in the homestretch of our state mandated testing and we have less than 30 school days left this year. Our kids have been in person since day one and our kids and staff are tired. It has been A week.

Although the week has been long, there are always some positive take aways we encounter and should remember as we move forward. Today I was manning the "waiting" room for state testing. Kids that were waiting to go test or kids that got done early were spending time in the library with me. Traditionally, they sit around the library and read, work quietly or do something on their computer. For a reason that I am not sure of, a couple kids were standing at the counter I was sitting at, with their computers on various sites. In a normal year, I probably would have had them go back to sit down, but I needed some kid time today, so I let them stay. It was fun to listen to their conversation, hear about the newest rapper and see what sites peaked their interest. Sometimes it is important to put everything aside and just "be" with kids.

Since I had a captive audience, I took advantage and asked for some opinions of the students that were with me. We are looking at a couple ways to provide kids with books for the summer and I was designing a potential gift to every kids to hold their books. Of course they didn't know the details, but at the same time they agreed to not tell anyone that I asked for their input on my secret project. They gave me feedback on my design and offered thoughts about the interest of other kids too. It was like my own little research focus group. I thought about taking a picture, but I decided to just enjoy the moment.

I also had the opportunity to talk to a student that returned to us recently, while we were all in the waiting room. I failed to diagnose the issues he was having with his computer, but I was there to offer support when he realized Mother's Day is coming up and it will be the first without his mom. Kids aren't afraid to share what they are thinking and in this situation, I wasn't afraid to repeat my student's statement when he told me that Mother's Day is going to suck this year. We continued to have a conversation about how he can remember and think about the great memories he has with his mom.

We are on the eve of May 1, and our work continues to be challenging. It always will be. But we can, and should, remember that nothing is better than time with kids.