#TeacherGoals

When I started the journey of becoming a teacher, I chose to attend Indiana Wesleyan University.  They are known for having a strong education program, and I knew God had a place for me on the Wildcat campus. During my first few education classes, we were challenged to come up with a motto for ourselves.  Something we wanted to live by as we continued on our journey to teaching.  I chose the following:

“Change the World One Child at a Time”

I should have coined this, because I now see this motto everywhere.  At the time that I came up with this motto, I hadn’t heard it anywhere. I just knew, deep in my heart, this was my purpose for becoming an educator.

When I graduated and entered the world of teaching, I realized just how challenging this profession truly would be.

My first adventure was teaching Kindergarten in Muncie, Indiana at Grissom Elementary School.  I had the honor of teaching there for four years.  During this time, my eyes were opened to a whole new world.  These children needed so much more than just an education.  They needed love, they needed someone to trust, and they needed someone to believe in them. There were many difficult days.  Some days, I had to repeat my motto over and over to remind myself why I was doing this.  I loved my students, and as they left me and went on, I prayed that I had reached them; that I had an impact on their life that, someday, would stick with them.

I then had the exciting opportunity to come home to Winchester and teach at Willard Elementary School.  I am still currently teaching at this incredible school with an incredible staff.  This is my sixth year in fourth grade.  My personal life has changed a lot, including having two children, and my motto has still been to, “Change the World One Child at a Time.”  I strive for this every year, every day, and every hour.

However, over the past few years, I have also started to focus on being the kind of teacher I pray that my personal children have.  A teacher that loves them deeply, cares about them, encourages them, laughs with them, cries with them, teaches them, disciplines them, holds them to high standards, and prays for them.

I’m no where near perfect.  Boy do I mess up sometimes.  I get behind, I struggle, I get frustrated, and I get really down.  However, I push myself to get better every day for my students.  They deserve the best.  All I can do is pray that I am enough for them.  The greatest joy of my life would be having past students, when they are grown, see me in Walmart and tell me one thing I said or did changed a part of them for the better.  If nothing else, maybe the fact that I believed in them no matter what, pushed them to do incredible things.

So, what is your motto?  No matter where you are in life, everyone has a purpose.  A reason for doing what they do.  Find a motto, and then go for it.  Together, we can make this world a much better place.

“Be the teacher you want your children to have while changing the world one child at a time!”