People ask me, “What is your degree in?”  I look at them with an annoyed face knowing what their response will be to my answer of, “Education.”   “Oh…Good Luck with that…” they say as they proceed to talk about all the pitfalls of the education system, as we know it today.

What they don’t know is this.  I could care less about the system.  I know the system sucks, I’m learning about the so-called system every day in my classes.  The Standardized testing is a pain.  We all know this. But what they don’t know is that I don’t want to teach because I love the system.  I want to teach because I want to inspire children to become stronger citizens of the world.  Is this idea a little far fetched?  Maybe so.  Is it a little idealistic that I say I’m going to change the world one student at a time?  Probably.  But I’m a firm believer that people are what you expect them to be, and children are no different.  If we continue to teach poorly because we refuse to “agree” with the way the system is run, what are our children getting out of it?

I introduced you to C-Scope last week, and although I still don’t know what it will entail, I hear that teachers aren’t happy about it.  It is easy for me to worry, but I’m going to choose a different rout.  In my thinking, teachers become cynical and grumpy because education changes so much.  The second you start to master one system, it changes an entire new playbook is laid in front of you.   I can see how frustrating this could be.  But when you look at it from an outsider, why wouldn’t you want to change it?  People learn differently. Your grandmother probably went to school in a one-room schoolhouse where they walked 2 miles barefoot in the rain and snow.  Your mother probably went to school with a group of 40-50 other kids in a building with no air conditioning.  You didn’t know what a “white board” was when you were in school.  I don’t remember not having  a computer in any of my classes. When I observe in classrooms, I am blown away by how much more students are learning now than when I was in grade school.

My point is this…it is better to change and improve than be comfortable and learn nothing.  I am going to choose to change constantly because my kids will change constantly.  To initiate change, is to initiate inspiration.  With every turn in the road, something new and exciting is lurking around the corner.  I know that I have not yet entered the system and experienced this “wonderful change” I am fighting for, but I’d like to think that I don’t have to.  In my classroom, my kids will know nothing of the system.  What they will know is that I am there to teach them, and they are there to learn.  Allowing myself to be caught up in the depths and downfalls of the structure would only lessen their experience and that isn’t fair. 

I, your friendly neighbor, am pledging to you today that I will take the high road.   The road where I will choose to stay positive and initiate change.  Change in the way I think, and change in the way my students learn.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Cait