Are you the one?

Can you think of the one person who was pivotal in supporting you, believing in you, or influencing you in the trajectory of your life? Mine was Gloria Carroll. She was my 7th grade Social Studies teacher and she was the first person to really see me and believe in me. What I mean is that she really saw my potential and encouraged me to see it as well. I have had many teachers - and many were good teachers - but, Mrs. Carroll ranks at the top all of these years later because she took an active role in believing in me. She talked with me, she listened to me, she encouraged me to dream, she encouraged me to challenge myself academically, and she set the bar for my success high and expected that I would reach it.

When I reflect on the most meaningful teachers in my life, they all have similar characteristics: they pushed me, they encouraged me, they supported me, and they believed in me. The teachers who I remember the clearest had high standards, they could articulate what excellence looked like/sounded like, they gave explicit feedback, and they challenged my thinking about myself, the content, and/or the world around me.

As a principal, this is what I want for my students. Teachers who see them for their possibilities and not defined by their neighborhood or their [perceived]family background. Teachers who have the same high expectations for their students that they have for their own children. Teachers who know that high standards and academic success rarely exist in a worksheet that reduces thinking down to a few sentences or sound bites. Teachers who encourage creative and divergent thinking and who actually listen to student thinking - always challenging them to go further, do more, expand their thinking.Teachers who believe that the next President, the next Steve Jobs, the next Olympic athlete, or the next award-winning author is sitting right in front of them - waiting to hear those words that will change the trajectory of their life forever. "To me, you are not a challenge, you are an opportunity."

Watch this video. Don't say to yourself, "I will watch it later." Watch it now. And ask yourself if you are the one for someone in your classroom. Are you the one person who makes a difference in the lives of the children you serve? Are you the teacher that will still be the one in thirty years (or more)?  Are you helping your students see themselves as the next President, award-winning author, or creative genius? 

Teachers are powerful. They directly influence the future. Be that teacher who dares to believe, who dares to have high expectations, and who sees the future sitting in front of them each day in their classroom. And be that teacher who is brave enough to tell your students all that they can be. No matter what.