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.
