The Force Is Strong With This One
Originally published in January 2013.
I read something this morning that was so powerful, I felt like I'd been physically struck. Sometimes words are like that - reaching places inside ourselves we forgot existed.
The article I read was from a site called Edutopia, created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. (George Lucas wrote and directed a few little films - the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies are some of them.) Part of the vision statement for Edutopia is this:
"It’s a place of inspiration and aspiration based on the urgent belief that improving education is the key to the survival of the human race."
If you're in school now or have ever been in school, I’ll bet that statement resonates with you too. Because so much of our early lives are spent in school and so many experiences there, both in and out of the classroom, combine to build us up or tear us down.
It's the tearing down part that really worries me. It reminds me of something a historic preservationist once told me, "The greenest building is one that's already built." It's much more difficult and more costly in countless ways to create from scratch - buildings or people. It's always best to build on an existing foundation.
So when students are educated and their knowledge and confidence are built, layer by layer and year by year, it's beautiful. When years pass where no new additions are added or worse, where only tearing down takes place, students suffer in countless ways. And maybe they never grow into the potential they had when their educational journey began.
I hope you're nodding your head. I really hope it's not because this is happening to you or has happened to you. I hope instead it's because you see that what I'm saying is true and because, like George Lucas and me, you believe that improving education is the key to our survival as people.
Let me circle back to the article that started this entry. It's titled, "Believing in Students: The Power to Make a Difference". I urge you to take a few minutes right now (it's a quick read, I promise) to click on that link and read the article.
Did you ever have a teacher like the one Roxanne describes in the article? One who believed in you, really believed? Amazingly, I had several. My first one was in the 3rd grade, Mr. Kelleher. I can't even tell you specifically what he did, other than teach me my Roman numerals. But I knew, from the way he listened to me, that he believed in me. My second one was in the 4th grade, Mrs. Devlin. She gave me my first opportunity to speak in front of a large group of people and assured me of my ability to be great at doing so. She was right. Mrs. Monninghoff (now Mrs. Limons!) in the 8th grade encouraged my writing, believing in my thoughts and my voice.
But without question, the teacher who kept the sailboat of my young life on course was one of my high school teachers, Mr. W.D. Merkel. I could write an entire post, possibly a book, on the difference that "Merk" has made in my life.
High school is both amazing and devastating. It's a time when you're realizing both who you are and who you'd like to be. I've come to understand that it's a trial for most people - not just the ones on the fringes of social circles. All of us are navigating our own rough and unfamiliar terrain without a map. So we seek guidance - a compass to show us the way, a constellation to orient ourselves around. Parents can help, but we need others - people who don't have to support us - to believe in us. To tell us that we're worthy, capable, special. To nudge us when we begin to drift, to cheer loudly at our victories, to clap us on the back with pride at our efforts when we're defeated. Merk was all this and more for me and for so many others.
So here's where I'm at with this first blog post of 2013. One of my students texted this to me a few weeks ago, "You are the freaking best." I'm hoping that text means they know I believe in them. But it's not enough. I need to be certain that all of my students know that I believe in them, and that I'm reaching out to touch the lives of students outside my practice.
Those of us who understand, who've been touched by teachers like Roxanne's and like Merk and the others who influenced me, have a responsibility. Our responsibility is to see that students everywhere know that they are believed in. That the Force is strong in each and every one of them. Who believed in you and what can you do today to show a student that you believe in them?