Goals

As I said in my previous post, I have an amazing family.  I also said some of the students I have taught and will teach this year do not have amazing families.  Some of them have been through a lot more in their 9 years than I have in my almost 25 years.  I have always wanted to be a teacher.  But when I was little, I didn't understand what being a teacher really meant.  It's not just spitting information at kids and testing them to see what they remember.  Teaching is about building relationships.  It's about getting to know the kids and giving them the skills they need so that they can be successful in life.  

I have tried to remember this the last two years I have taught, but I don't always do a good job.  I get distracted by the pressures to make sure all my students pass a test.  Don't get me wrong, having all students pass a test is a good goal.  I definitely want all my students to pass, but is that really the most important thing?  So as my students come to the first day of school on Thursday, I have a goal for the year.

My goal is to get to know my students.  I mean REALLY get to know them.  I want to know what they like and don't like, who they live with, how many brothers and sisters they have, and what pets they have.  I want them to be able to talk to me and trust me because I do care about them.  I want to do whatever I can to help them go far in life.  That is my goal.  

What I ask from you is that you pray.  I ask that you pray for me: that I keep this goal in the front of my brain, that I don't make a grade more important than a life, that I show Christ to my students, that I can make a difference to a child who is struggling, that I teach my students to the best of my ability.  I also ask that you pray for my students: that they can be open with me, that they see I care about them, that they see Christ in me, that they learn to the best of their abilities.  Please feel free to ask me throughout the year how my goal is going.