Why do I teach

What keeps you motivated, should be the real question! 

Why do I continue to teach?

 I have been fortunate to have many great mentors in my life, two of which are my parents. My first real paycheck as a teacher, I gave to them as a thank you for encouraging me to always do my best and instilling in me the confidence that I was capable of that. That's the kind of teacher I want to be. I was ready to go and I knew that I wanted to share my interests with my students, inspire them to learn, and wanted them to excel in everything they did, just like my parents did with me. I also wanted to be part of something great. Teachers are a game changer and are making a difference one student at a time. But wow, I had big shoes to fill!. Everyone told me I was in for a challenge teaching Jr. High. What was I getting into? Well, my first year as a teacher was pretty rough, I am not going to lie.  I won’t go into details but I learned right away that teaching was not a profession for the weak. You had to be strong inside and out.  I felt like I was overworked and bogged down with the daily tasks and chores of running a tight classroom. That was the perfectionist in me talking. But it got better and I learned how to manage my time, and ask for help, and over the years got easier. The campus grew with new leadership and became a better campus overall.. Well, my vision never changed but found that everything around me would and I learned to adapt..

But what keeps me motivated to teach? One word comes to mind when I think of Lincoln Middle School and our students: Resilience. Even before quarantine, COVID, or  Snow-vid, remember when some of us had no water, no electricity, no food, virtual learning was at its peak and everything seemed to be shutdown around town. Well, our students were RESILIENT. And even especially after having to endure all these unique circumstances they continued to demonstrate resiliency. Lincoln Students continued to show up no matter what. They continued to work hard and continued to move forward despite everything going on around them. (The stories I can tell you, the things they have been through,  I don't know if I would have made it through Jr. High. myself) But the roles were now reversed. They had now become my role models.  They were the game changer all along.  They were the ones making the difference one teacher at a time. This is what inspires me to teach here at Lincoln, your ability to bounce back no matter what. You keep me grounded and I am reminded that every day is a new day, a new day in which I can strive to make a difference. Every day I have a new opportunity to start all over.  Every day I have another chance to encourage you and inspire you to learn. Every day,  I can show you how to lead,  I can work on relationships, I can be present in your lives. So as long as you continue to show up,  I will be there. And I know I can not reach every student, or connect 100 % with every student. And sometimes I have to be in parent mode but at least you know I care. I will do my best to make it work.  Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, all I can do is try to make a difference today. This is my” Why” and what motivates me. What is yours?