We Survived and We are Better for It

     I am fairly certain that everyone involved in education is currently looking forward to the end of this academic year. This includes students, teachers, and administrators. I submitted the last of my final grades yesterday so I am officially done, with the exception of a few meetings. My biggest takeaways from this semester are in the paragraphs below.
     Clear communication with students is the key to having a smooth semester. One thing that I do every day of class, either before class or after class, is to put the homework assignment as a News Item in the learning management system (LMS). In addition to this, I usually rearrange the placement of the items on the home page of the course in the LMS so that the News Item is front and center. This assures my students of where to look for their homework assignments every day. Once that date is over, I archive the News Item so they are only seeing the one that is currently relevant. I started this practice a few years ago and it has helped both the students and me. They know exactly where to look for the homework assignment every day and I have to be more organized for each class.
     During this pandemic, personal communication with students has become more important. For my classes, we met synchronously during regular class time. Every meeting I tried to ask the students how they were doing, if they were feeling okay, and if they knew anyone who was sick. I also did this each time I had one-on-one virtual interaction. It was essential that the students knew that I cared and was concerned about their well-being. It didn’t take much extra effort on my part, but I believe that it made a big difference to the students. They need to know that we care about them as people and we need to visibly show that, especially this semester.
     Whether or not we like it, technology is essential to teaching. It was somewhat ironic that during the spring semester, I teach a technology course for future STEM teachers. When we found out that courses were going to finish online, the direction of this course changed some. I made an effort to look for specific tools that they could use in teaching online. Their in-class teaching lesson became a video lesson and we looked more closely at online assessment tools. One of our favorite tools that we found is a website called, Edulastic. It is a free site for K-12 teachers that could be used for online homework, quizzing, or testing. There are millions of math problems that have been created and you can create your own. The problems are standards-aligned so that you can search for them by standard and grade level. Some aspects of the reporting system are only available with a paid subscription.
     College students can and will do great things for you if you give them clear directions, and lots of support and encouragement. Some things that I am most proud of students accomplishing this semester are:

• One student completed an original mathematics research project;
• Four students completed action research projects while student teaching—a project that they developed completely on their own including: writing the research questions, collecting the data, analyzing the data, and reflecting on the experience;
• Twelve students completed Desmos Art Projects;
• Fourteen students wrote History of Math papers; some of my favorite words from a student’s paper are: “Math class is special because it stresses the brain differently. A lot of classes are simply memory; math, on the other hand – if taught well – is not at all. Math should be based on applying what you know and thinking both critically and creatively.”
• Fourteen students created the assessment portion of a unit plan that they can use when student teaching. In addition, they had to read other students’ unit plans and make comments and suggestions. Here are some of my favorite comments from their reviewing each other’s partial unit plans:

o   I really like how organized your unit plan is. I also like how you plan to meet with your students individually at the end of the unit to discuss their work from the unit. I think doing this is very beneficial for both you and the students. Its allows the students to share with you where they think they are at and how they think they should improve and what they should continue to do in the next units, while also allowing you to build relationships with them.

o   I also like that you have a podcast that you have each of your students do. I think this is a good way to see what your students understand and get them using math vocab as they do not always have many places they can do that. 

o   I really liked your idea of having the students write a bulleted list/short paragraph with a week left in the unit about what they do not yet understand. This will give you a chance to create a review sheet or something similar to help make sure they are ready for the end of the unit. Another benefit is that by doing it a full week out, you can even still expand your unit an extra day or two if that is what it takes for your students to fully understand everything they need to! Awesome work.

o   I also liked the idea of having students set a goal for themselves; it might be nice to give them an example of a goal, just saying have a goal is a little broad. Another way to possibly improve this is to have students revisit the goal/goals they set and see if they accomplished them! I know that it's a great motivator for me to see the things I have accomplished that I couldn't at one point.

o   I thought it was great that you used point intervals in your rubrics instead of just using a set point value. I wish I would have done that! I think that having that room for tolerance will be better if a student asks about their grade. I also really enjoyed the house assessment because that is something that is a direct application of what the unit is over. You are showing students how the content is applicable in real life, and how it could be used in a potential career, and I think this would be great to use in a classroom.

o   I really like the idea of the Checklist. It is essentially a test and still covers the topics you would have in the test but I don't think it would be as stressful. Because even if you try to not make a test stressful, students hear the word and instantly stress. I also like that you mentioned corrections on exit tickets. I think without that the exit tickets could just be wasted and students wouldn't really learn from them. 

     Tell me that when reading these future teachers’ comments, you aren’t just beaming with pride at how thoughtful they are about the role of a teacher in helping students succeed. I am always proud of my students at the end of the semester, but somehow this semester I am more proud—likely because of all that they accomplished under the circumstances that they were given. At the end of each semester, these students remind me that the future of math education is in some great hands!

Teacher appreciation, will it continue?

Teachers are, in my opinion, selfless heroes. They are often unappreciated and underfunded. Ask any teacher and they will tell you that they are not in the classroom because of the money, the appreciation, or the respect, but because they genuinely care about the learning and well being of every single student in their classroom. They care about each student that comes through their classroom. Teachers also do not just care about a child for a year, but for a lifetime. These teachers will go above and beyond for their children, and that is exactly how they see their students. Each student is an extension of their family. Every year when a teacher gets a new class, they get a new set of children that they will laugh with, cry with, worry about, and, most importantly, love as their own child. They spend eight hours every day talking to, teaching, and engaging with these kids. Yet, they are underappreciated.

When a student is hurting, so is his teacher. They want to help fix their problems. They want every child to succeed. Some people think that teachers became teachers because it is the easy route, that they wanted weekends, nights, and summers off. In reality that is not true. A teacher’s work is never done. Once they are done taking care of their school families, they go home and take care of their own families. Their work is truly never done.

When this pandemic started, you could see a flood of social media posts praising teachers. They spend all day teaching children, and as parents started realizing just how much work teachers were really doing during the day, parents decided to show that appreciation. But let me ask you a few questions: Why did it take a national emergency for people to appreciate these heroes, and how long after this is over will we still praise these teachers?

During these unprecedented times I have gotten to watch firsthand just how much these teachers truly care about their students, and I do mean every single student. I have watched the sadness as they realize that some students no longer get the escape of school and as they realize that their students are going to fall behind. They worry about what the student will eat and what kind of structure they have at home. I have watched as they worry about the students they have not heard from. But also, I have watched as they start to plan how to fix this. They are already making plans deciding how they will catch their students up when they finally get to see them again. All the while they are teaching themselves how to use new technology and doing everything they can to keep in contact with those students who are willing. They are pushing their students to be their best even when their students do not want to be pushed. When this is all over, these teachers are ready to go back to being the underappreciated, underfunded people they were before because they are doing it for their students.  

Someday these students will look back and appreciate the teacher that helped them through, that pushed them to be their best, to do their best. Students will appreciate the teachers that believed in them in even when they could not believe in themselves. But why should teaches have to wait years before they have someone appreciate them? I think it is time we let these teachers know that their work does not go unnoticed, and when this is all over, let’s not let our teachers go back to being unappreciated.

Is School the Most Important Thing During a Pandemic?

This title may seem daunting. We are teachers. Of course, school is important! But is it the most important thing? During this once in a lifetime (hopefully) pandemic, I have realized that school is not the most important thing. With all that is happening around us, it is difficult to focus on school when it seems so miniscule to everything else going on. While death and sickness rates continuing to rise, it seems odd to pursue grades the way we were before. Some teachers have backed off and realized that there are bigger things in our life going on, but some teachers have not. While online remote learning appears to be the only option, that does not make it an easy option.
Students went from doing schoolwork in places such as the library or in quiet buildings. Now, they have to do schoolwork in their homes, where it may not be that quiet and they may not have a table to set up on. For some students, the only safe place they could go was school. Not only was this taken away from them, but they still have to do their work at home. This makes focusing on school a lot harder than it ever was before. I have heard stories of students being given more homework than they are able to handle. While some students may have less on their plate since they do not have to be in the school building, this may not be true for all. As teachers, we worry about our students not learning enough, but we need to consider that it might just be too much. Teachers cannot keep pretending that assigning the same amount of work will work for the students. This may be a delicate balance, but I believe that the balance needs to be achieved, because school cannot be the same as before.

It Takes a Special Person to Be a Teacher

          Have you ever wondered who the most selfless people are on this planet? Have you ever thought who else is going to help your children become successful adults someday? Have you ever contemplated which occupation is the most thankless, but the employees don’t seem to mind? Well, I’ll tell you right now, the answer to all three of those questions is teachers. Here’s another question: why do people want to become teachers?

            As a current student at South Dakota State, I have looked back on my days in high school, but not to reminisce about what I did. I look back and focus on what my teachers each brought to the table. No teacher is alike, and I think that’s a very good thing. You need a variety of different personalities to have a successful school, in my opinion. But they all have the same objective in the long run: to give their students the tools necessary to be success after high school, and to see their students progress from start to finish.

            I have talked with many of my old high school teachers, and they are my biggest supporters about my wanting to become a teacher, along with my high school teacher parents. I’ve asked them if they’ve ever gotten sick of teaching, if they ever wonder if what they’re doing is effective, and if they enjoy their job. Not one teacher has told me they’ve ever gotten sick of it, and they 100% enjoy their job. Some have said they have contemplated their methods when they were first starting out, but most teachers at my school have been teaching at least 10 years, and they’re confident in their methods.

            I also asked some of my old teachers why they went into education. I got different variations of the same answer. And that answer was, “I wanted to make a difference.” All teachers, I believe, want to educate their students to let them to be successful. And teachers are willing to accept a low-salary compared to many other 4-year degrees because they care so much about the future of our world.

            I started off as an electrical engineering major when I first went to SDSU. The whole time I was there, I thought about getting my masters afterwards so I could become a lecturer at a university. Even when I was an engineering major, I still wanted to me a teacher. It’s because I have what many other teachers have: the passion for teaching. Nobody wants an unpassionate person to be teaching them. If the teacher isn’t passionate about what they’re teaching, how can you expect the students to be passionate about it?

            It truly takes a special person to be a teacher. In my case, I want to be a math teacher. I am taking almost all the same classes of a math major, which could get me a job as an actuary, a statistician, or a banker. Those jobs pay way more than a teacher. However, to me, those jobs don’t seem as important. Are they all important? Yes. But who do you think taught all the statisticians, actuaries, and bankers the information they need? Teachers. And they did it not for their own personal gain, but to help their students reach their goals.

            I hope this blog helps you all look at teachers with a little more respect, because they deserve it.

Schools' Technological Progression

I sometimes forgot how young I actually am, and there are moments in my life where my age shows through. The other day it dawned on me that I am part of an exclusive group--a group is one that doesn’t remember the days before cellphones. I do not know when exactly cellphones were invented or became more attainable, but I do know that as long as I’ve been alive, they have been around. I also realized my lack of age talking to my mother. She starting talking about what I’m going to call a party landline. Essentially, your neighbors could hear your conversations if they picked up the phone while you were chatting with somebody else. I can’t imagine that: a life with no cellphones, not to mention life with a landline that’s not even exclusively your own. Not to mention, emails have also been around my entire life, but that’s pretty new as well. Back in the old days, where there were cars with carburetors, you had to send mail through the post office. I honestly do not even know how to send a letter, and I do not feel bad about it. I will practically never need to send a letter, and that is the future of most kids across the United States.

Technology has been moving at warp speed for a while now, and it is not intending on slowing down anytime soon. Communication is at an all-time high, and that is pretty awesome for the most part. What is interesting, though, is the lack of progress schools are taking to advance forward in a world that is racing past it. Before I get too far into this, I do not think an excess of technology is appropriate in a classroom, but there is a time and a place. I am avidly against a lot of technology in classrooms with exceptions to a few outliers. Classrooms are stuck in the 80’s with a whiteboard and a lesson that takes way too long, especially when students are having instant gratification on smartphones faster than ever before. Lecturing for a whole class period does not work, it bores the students. We all remember that one class we hated due to a teacher who did this, and for whatever reason nine out of ten times it always seemed to be some STEM class. Not always, this is more my opinion than an absolute set in stone fact, but it seemed that way.

It is important to make good use of technology in the classroom, as it can greatly enhance learning. In order to introduce a topic, there is a big array of things that the teacher can do, and technology often times helps. There are websites like Desmos that allow for teachers to make presentations that engage students and make them actually think. It allows for a students to actually be interested in math instead of just being lectured. With that being said, when it does come time for students to really learn the topic and not just be introduced to it, lectures do help a fair bit.

All in all, technology can be used as a tool to keep kids interested and engaged in the classroom. To me, engagement is the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher.

Crises Foster Innovation

There has been a lot going on in the past couple weeks.

Colleges and universities all over the U.S., as well as worldwide, have been closed. Public schools in 30 states, with the count continuously rising, have closed their doors. This leaves more than 50 million kids from elementary to high school at home without structure and sometimes supervision during the day.

This can be so overwhelming to think about and I completely sympathize with peoples’ fears, but the way that teachers have responded and reacted gives me so much hope.

Crises foster innovation.

For teachers of a traditional learning classroom, online applications may have never been used. Teachers in schools without one-to-one access have rarely had to help students with using laptops or tablets.

This can be seen as a hardship, or as an opportunity.

Now is the time to develop the amazing technology that we have into our daily classrooms.

Now is the time to learn the right and wrong ways to use online classrooms, video chats, and other online connections. 

Now is the time to work on flexibility with students who may have other obligations during this time.

Now is the time to create deeper connections with your students as we all go through this together.

This time will not only test our knowledge, but our character. How we adapt to these circumstances will affect students’ perception of schooling and can affect our own perceptions of our classrooms in the future.

Let us take this time as a chance to delve deeper into our teaching methods. Why only use lecture and homework methods? What are the benefits to using technology and different ways of communication in your classroom?

This will not last forever, but what we make of this time can!

Letter Chasing Vs Learning

This topic is one that hits close to home for me, and it is one that I do not look forward to dealing with when I am a teacher. Before I go on I must admit that I am very guilty of being a letter chaser. A letter chaser is someone who goes to school with the mindset of putting more emphasis on getting an A rather than learning the material. After my four years of high school and now into my second year of college I have learned the power of learning instead of chasing the letter.

From the very beginning of high school I was always told that A’s were the goal, and doing the extra work would pay off in the long run. Well this might be true, and I am not so naive to think that grades don’t play a factor in getting into colleges and other life impacting areas such as scholarships and awards. However, in this post I hope to give you a different mindset the next time you find yourself chasing the letter.

Like I mentioned above, I am a letter chaser. I am your stereotypical 4.0 GPA highschooler who did everything right. I thought that getting the 4.0 would make me feel great and accomplished, but if I were to give any high schooler advice today, I would tell them to not even look at their GPA. I know you think I am crazy! I spent hours a night studying, and I definitely missed my fair share of highschool sporting events because of this. It’s times like this where I wish I could go back and tell myself to go to that basketball or football game because highschool is a time where teenagers make memories and you sure can’t brag to you kids about how much time you spent studying! 

Another angle on this topic that has affected my life is the emphasis on learning. Everyone knows that once you take a test that you can just forget all that information and start storing the new material for the next test right? WRONG! Why do we even go to school? Is it to get the A in the class or is it to learn the material. An example of this in my life is in high school my math teacher let us use notes, calculators, and a unit circle on all the tests. Well if you are dedicated enough to take the time to take good notes, you don’t need to learn the material for the tests. When you end up going to a college where they outlaw calculators and expect you to know your unit circle, the game gets a whole lot harder. (Moral of the story: Know the Unit Circle!)

My third and final point in arguing against chasing the letter is just being prepared for real life. Yes, I agree that getting a good GPA might get you a job interview over someone else. However, the interviewer can already see and expect that anyone with the degree to know the material that is associated with that degree. So in an interview when all I can share are my stories on how I studied really hard, I can see how I would not be the best candidate for the job. I even see it here in college where I know super smart people who will land every interview they apply for but they may not land the job. My advice, don’t spend all your time for the interview, spend more time for the job.

To finish off this long winded rant; yes, I agree with you that getting good grades is important! They can get you into college and maybe get you some scholarships. I just hope the next time you are sitting at the end of the semester begging to get your grade rounded up that you remember the reason why we are all in school. And that reason is to LEARN!
Finally, as a future teacher, I hope my students can take pride in the failures and the stumbles that come along with school. To end in a cheesy quote, “You learn more from failure than you ever do from success.” Happy Learning!

The Time for Change has Come

Once upon a time, there were no public schools. Once upon a time, it was not the job of the government to teach our young people. Once upon a time, it was the parents’ job to teach and train their children not only life skills (which many public schools insist on teaching) but career skills. The blacksmith would give his child on the job training in the art of blacksmithing. The baker the same to his child. The merchant the same to his.

But then man invented the factory.

Before the human race decided to sophisticate itself, there were only experts. Professional degree training began at age six and ended whenever they decided it was over. Now, I by no means disapprove of the good fruit the industrial revolution granted humanity, but some of the bad fruit is still laying around. Our current public schools system is designed to produce a factory worker, but society no longer is in need of factory workers. Many of the people who manage to escape the factory mindset of school are hard at work designing robotics to replace the need for others to work in a factory. While some may see this as a curse, I see it as a blessing. People have amazing creative potential, but factories do not appreciate this. Factories give people easy to follow instructions then scrupulously watch over them to ensure proper execution… much like the school system.

This is clearly not an easy problem to fix, however the solution is beginning to present itself. New technologies have caused the advent of classroom gamification, mass customized learning and countless other previously impossible learning models, all of which gives more power to the student to learn at a comfortable pace and in the best way for them. These technologies are more equipped to enable student success in the information age, where mastery and creativity are key and Google has removed the need to memorize formulas.

Let's Make Math Fun!

In today’s day in age, it is so common for students to walk into their math classroom and expect nothing more than a lecture with a homework assignment to go along with it. I, along with many others, have experienced this in my life. Day in and day out, we take notes on a PowerPoint the teacher has made and do an assignment straight from the textbook. Everyone can agree that this can get boring and repetitive, no matter how much you love math. This can create a very black and white environment for your students that is not promoting any creativity. Educators of Mathematics can have a powerful influence by making math FUN and may even give some students a newfound love for math.

There are many ways that educators can make your classroom setting more enjoyable for students. One important way is to share their passion. If you aren’t excited about what you are teaching, why should your students be? We can change the way our students talk about math just by setting an example. I have seen as well that using technology and media in your classroom can also keep your students engaged. By changing up the routine and providing them with something new, it can be a lot more exciting as a student and make the lesson that much more interesting. If we can connect the math to something that you know the students enjoy, they are more likely to buy in. Adding games, discussions, and real-life applications are all ways to keep things fresh and new. Having more discussions and friendly competitions in your classroom is also a great way for your students to get to know one-another. When a student is more comfortable with who is around them, they are more likely to speak up during class and not be afraid to ask questions.

Changing up the student’s perspective of “I hate math”, “math is boring”, and “I’ll never be good at math” is so important in order to create a positive environment in your classroom. If we are able to shift student’s mindsets into thinking that math actually can be fun we are able to set them up for more success in the future.  

The Importance of Proofs in Math Classes

Proof: 

First and foremost, I absolutely demise doing proofs. I look at them, I think, I go to a different problem, I come back, think, go to another problem, then finally muster up an answer to the proof, and to be blunt, the success rate has been dismal of late. But, although I wish I would do better when being tested on it, it is extremely important in a math class to learn proofs and learn how to do proofs for a variety of reasons.  

The main reason is glaringly obvious; it shows the student has an overall understanding of the subject at hand. This understanding is on a different level than just computing numbers. When a student is given the Pythagorean Theorem and is asked to find the hypotenuse of the right triangle, do they really understand where everything is coming from, or are they just simply taking the example the teacher gave and applying it to their situation. When I was a high school student, I did the latter. My teacher was great, everyone enjoyed having him, but going into college I found myself lacking behind the rest of the students because all we needed to do was a simple plug and chug. Looking back, if proofs would have been involved, I would have been far more prepared for the life as a math major. 

Along with gaining a full understanding of the content, proofs are crucial to Geometry. To do well in Geometry, the student can’t rely on equations to get them through, unless they are doing area formulas. Instead, they need to realize that, for example, two opposite angles made by two intersecting lines are vertical angles, and so forth, congruent. Not only do they need to realize it, but they need to understand why that makes them equal and how that can help them determine other things. Proofs help in this step. 

Since proofs are crucial, it would be terrible if they were taken out of the classroom. Yes, they may be difficult and bring test scores down, but with the help of a good teacher, proofs can only help the student achieve their future goals. Without proofs, students do not gain reasoning, which is a critical aspect for all occupations. So even for those students who say, “When will I ever use this?”, it is important, because they will use aspects of everything we teach every day. 

 

Standard/Target Based Learning

              Today I went to the SD STEM Conference in Huron, SD. There were many great sessions, but the ones that interested me the most were the ones with the idea of standards based grading (SBG) or target based grading (TBG). I have never really been exposed to this kind of grading, since none of my teachers have used it. If you’re not familiar with SBG or TBG, standard based learning has to do with grading based on the standards and not as much on necessarily getting the right answer. Target based learning is very similar to standard based grading, but it mostly breaks down the standards into smaller “targets”. These two grading systems are also usually out of a 4-point grading scale.

              The TBG session was given by Mr. Kreie. He has just started using this system this school year. He says that this kind of grading focuses on “I can…” and “I understand…” statements. He gives his students a quiz about every week or so and each one usually has one or two targets on it. He then scores his students a score out of 3. Any student who received less than a 3 is expected to retake the quiz, which requires the student to reflect on their mistakes from the original quiz. In order for a student to get an anything above a 3 (which can be translated to an A), they have to go above and beyond and do an enrichment task. These quizzes and enrichment tasks take up about 80% of the student’s overall grade.

              I really liked this idea of standards based grading or target based learning because of the fact that it focuses more on the standards and making sure that every student is understanding what they are doing and the process of their work. This kind of grading also leads to students being more aware of learning targets/standards and reflecting on what and how they are learning. Mr. Kreie says that he also sees way more students going to other students for help and they are actually teaching and learning from each other! TBG and the way Mr. Kreie uses it also lessens the test anxiety for his students, since they aren’t taking tests and they can always retake a quiz if they don’t get the grade they want. Overall, I think that SBG or TBG has so many benefits and lead to students learning so much more. I am convinced that this could be a great option for me and others too.

The Importance of Forming Relationships with your Students

             As future educators we will run into all kinds of different students. There will be students that can be discouraging and hard to deal with as a teacher. I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of time substitute teaching so I’ve got to see some of this firsthand by subbing in the in-school suspension room. I saw students who were smart, personable, and had all the tools within themselves to succeed in school and do whatever they wanted to in life. But, despite that, they were failing all of their classes and it felt like there was nothing I could do to convince them to try. If you could get them to try for even part of a day, they did great on their tests or assignments despite not going to class often.

             Watching students make decisions like this was hard for me, even as somebody who was just a substitute. I spent a week working in the in-school suspension room and I couldn’t get any of them to talk or listen to me the first couple days. Finally, on the last day I was able to get one to open up and tell me why he wasn’t trying. He had an extremely difficult home life and had to work late every night to pay for his things and by the time he woke up for school he didn’t have the energy to try in school. There was nothing I could do to help his situation as much as I wanted to. But, after he talked to me about it and saw that I understood and cared about his life, he listened to me and allowed me to help him. He worked hard the whole day. Trying to build a relationship and showing you care about a student’s success can make a world of difference to them. As Dr. Larson has said multiple times this semester, building relationships with your students is the most important part of teaching, and I whole-heartedly believe in that. Yet this is not limited to teachers who work in a disciplinary room, it’s especially true for math teachers.

             Lots of students dislike math as it can be difficult and extremely frustrating. So, as a math teacher we need to find ways to make the class more fun for them. A great way to do this is to be personable and form relationships with your students. Being approachable to all students can make their experience with math more enjoyable and they’ll be willing to work harder. I think this is especially true for students with little to no motivation. Getting to know those students and making them know you genuinely care about their success can make a world of difference to them. Being able to help your students, in more ways than just teaching math, is what makes teaching enjoyable and worthwhile.

            

I Just Want to Say Thank You

Imagine a school in which the teachers and administrators expected nothing from you. You don’t want to graduate? Okay, that’s fine. You don’t want to show up to class? Okay, that’s fine too. Now, some students may think “oh man, this is the best school ever.” But what if school is the only place you can go in order to get a meal to eat? What if school is the only safe place for you to be at? What if school is the only place where you feel important and cared for? Would you still want this?

Cruz showed up on Coach Carter’s doorstep one night after his cousin was shot on the street. It was the only place he felt he could go in order to get out of this lifestyle and be safe. Cruz is a character in the movie Coach Carter who lives in a life of poverty, drugs, and gangs. In one of the scenes towards the end of the movie Cruz said to Coach Carter, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Sir I just want to say thank you. You saved my life.”

As educators, it is not often that we will get thanked for the impact we may have on students’ lives. But the thank yous are not why we choose to enter the field of education. Educators choose this profession in hopes that they can change lives; maybe even save lives. To me, being a teacher is not about teaching a subject, but about teaching young adults the value that they bring to this world, and the value their education can bring to them. Coach Carter taught Cruz his self-worth. He taught Cruz that even he, a troubled kid, has just as much light to bring to this world as any other kid. I hope that I will be able to instill in my students what Coach Carter instilled in his basketball players, which is, your success in life does not come from others’ expectations for you. Your success in life comes from the expectations you have for yourself. Educators have the opportunity to shape lives. My hope for myself is that I will do that and more. And to all of the educators who have impacted my life, I just want to say thank you.