#YourEdustory Week 2 - Inspired by MLK: How Will You Make the World a Better Place?

How will I make the world a better place?  Wow!  Can there be a more powerful question to take a moment and think about then that one?  As an educator who takes a lot of pride in my job every time I step foot into the classroom, I take this question extremely serious.  And who better to get influence from then the one and only Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Every year I start off day 1 with my students talking about how time is a big deal to me and should be to them.  I tell them that there are only 24 hours in the day and I only have about 6 hours a day with them to lead them in their education journey.  This is mainly a pep talk to myself to remember that I need to use the most of my time with my students because I truly only have a limited amount in their lives to instill in them the lessons that I believe will assist in making their world (and ours) a better place to live in.  Time seems to be that one thing that teachers always complain about not having enough of.  Am I right?  No matter what sector you are in education, time is always the enemy.  I hate this because I do cherish the most of my time with my students to expose them to as much as I can to truly get them to understand who they are as people.  The thing I always wrestle around with is how do I get this accomplished amidst the day-to-day curriculum, benchmark exams, IEP meetings, and all the other minutia I wade around within 180 school days?

One thing I take a lot of honor in as a teacher is to not only teach my students what they need to know for 6th grade, but to also guide them in learning what their purpose is and what they are truly good at. If I truly am going to make this world a better place, it is my job to instill in students what their sweet spot is under my watch.  I know some teachers will disagree with me in that this is one of our responsibilities as a teacher.  Now it might not be written necessarily in our job description, but I believe we have a huge role to play in supporting students in finding what they are created to do. And I might not get them all the way there in one year, but I feel the time I have with them I can make a huge dent in getting them on that path.  I think if I keep this at the forefront of my mind everyday I plan, prepare, and create I can bring out the best in my kids which will in turn assist in making students the best they can become and therefore making this world a better place.  Not an easy task, but something I long to achieve for the benefit of my students.  Then again, the task that MLK set out to do was not an easy one either.

Image credited to Wikipedia Commons