Teaching From the Heart....

For whatever reason the time that has lapsed since I last worked in my chosen profession has brought about a tremendous loss for me in terms of good memories of a career in which I invested heavily of my time and dedication for lots of years. I truly can not say I have wasted any time missing getting up early and going off to school each day. But my confidence in a job well done was dealt a sour end. I will not dwell further on that.

However, today for several hours I have spent time shredding and destroying written cards and communication from years past from students, family, and friends. Opening each of these cards, reading them, and shredding them was somewhat therapeutic for me. Among the cards I read were thank you notes from the parents of students for teaching and caring about their students (children), notes from students full of praise and love, notes from fellow teachers and teachers I mentored, and many, many thank you notes from principals for whom I worked for the hours spent performing many tasks and leadership roles that needed to be done.

I haven't even come close to getting through one third of this box but it certainly has rejuvenated my belief in myself and the job I performed on behalf of students for many, many years. It certainly renews my faith in myself and my abilities as an educator.

After some pondering I have concluded that if teaching is really what you want to do when you aim for and gain a college degree in education your feelings of fulfillment will most often be met when teaching students in a classroom. What I am trying to say is that no position in the field of education is more fulfilling that the sparkle in the eye of a student who finally "gets it" when trying to learn a new concept. One can lead and teach teachers, prepare materials, and do research for educators, do staff development and train educators, perform many leadership activities, but the true teacher teaches. It is the heart of the issue.