A real teacher at last!

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:5

Recently at church, our pastor was talking about "the light" - no need for a sermon here as I'm sure there has been about a million already preached on the greatness of "the light" - but for some reason, I kept thinking about my students.  Maybe it was because only two days earlier I finished student teaching and said farewell to all the amazing young people I spent the last 4.5 months with.  To say that I taught them would almost be foolish - I walked away that day feeling like I had grown and learned more than I had in most of the previous 30 years of my life.

If you watch the news or listen to parents (or folks that simply have opinions, whether informed ones or not), you are likely to hear all about the devastating state of our education system (particularly here in Denver or other urban cities).  The rhetoric used is so strong that I often wonder how we ever expect the schools to "turnaround" when we leave so little room for them to do anything but be ridiculed and criticized.  Parents want to send their kids to private schools or the latest and greatest charter school down the street... but the students who are left out either due to economic reasons or simple lotteries for admission are left behind to somehow "survive" the public school system.  All of this talk makes me sad beyond belief.  There is SO much hope for our students, especially our inner-city kids, and I'm afraid that we keep putting out their lights when we speak and act so negatively about their education...their futures.  But I have seen our kids at work.  I have seen them thrive and shine brightly despite what society tells them.  I have seen them overcome invisible obstacles that students only miles away don't have to even think about.  And that is why I want to be a teacher.  Yes, our government SERIOUSLY underfunds education.  Yes, there is so much bureaucratic ridiculousness to deal with in education that it often makes it hard to come to work.  Yes, education is only one piece of the puzzle that will help students out of poverty or poor life choices.  Yes, it is just plain HARD. And still, there are amazing things happening in our public schools.  I believe it.

I want to be a part of it.  Seeing how much power and confidence you can give a student by believing in them and helping them learn about and engage with the world is one of the best feelings I've ever had.  And that's why when we were talking about light and darkness at church this week, I thought about students.  I thought about the students who work hard despite tremendous adversity, the students who come home to very little every night, the students who don't have a steady place to live, the students who have faced more hardship than I could ever imagine... though there is darkness all around them, I know their light will not be overcome!  Somehow, good is at work, and I hope I can be a part of it.  I hope I can help them let their lights shine more brightly than ever.

And with that, I am thankful to be done with my teaching program and ready to begin teaching in the Fall (hopefully!).  Jobs are certainly hard to find for social studies teachers, but I'm holding out hope that there's a space for me somewhere.

Here are a few of the classes I worked with this semester.  I will miss them!!

And here are some of the notes/cards I received from students on my last day... I cried at almost every one I got.  These are just a few are from students who really meant a lot to me, and I hope to never forget how much they taught me!  (If you click on them, they should become large enough to read)