Last week someone tweeted the following “Plant a seed and watch it grow”. The tweet had a link. The tweet got my interest as an elementary school principal and teacher. I assumed it was a catchy title about children so I clicked on the link. To my utter amazement it was actually a link about planting seeds.
However the idea was still stuck on my head. In reality that is what we do as elementary school teachers we plant the seeds now and we nurture them, water them and feed them so that they will grow. So times this growth can take many years. I remember when I reconnected with a former student some 15 years after I taught her in fourth grade (I am not that old) that one of the reasons she went into teaching was because of the feeling she got in my class. If we are lucky we can the see growth sooner. Over the past few weeks I have had the privilege to see amazing growth in the students in my school. From their Science Fair projects, preparing questions for skyping with another school, in class presentations, the level of their Hebrew language skills, or the major music production that the First through Fourth graders did, all of it showed how much they have grown.
This past weekend talk show host Michael Medved was a scholar-in-residence at one of the local synagogues and he said one of the problems with Television media is that “If it bleeds it leads’, meaning we focus on the negative. Sometimes in education as well we focus or only hear about how bad things are and all that is wrong. Yes there are things that we need to change but there are also many great things.
I am luck that I get to not only plant and help nurture those seeds I am also able to watch them grow.
I haven't, ahem, been teaching that long either, but it is always neat to reconnect with my former kindergartners...I am proud of them, several are going to become teachers :-) and they all remember specific special times from our classroom. It is interesting to hear the diverse recollections and what details, from the many that happened each day, resonated with each one. It is a gift to know that what I did/do makes a difference through their eyes.
ReplyDeleteAddie,
ReplyDeleteSo true! I think being a teacher and an educator truly is a great gift. I just wish more people would understand the value and importance teachers have in our society.
Thanks for the comment
Akevy
Love this post!! I feel lucky to get to work with children every day and watch them grow even from day to day!
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I do believe that we are in the best profession that there is. While it needs a lot of work like most other things in the world if we could as I mentioned in my newest post just focus on the children then it all becomes worth it.
Thanks for sharing
Akevy