'Twas the Night Before School Starts

'Twas the night before school starts,
Summer break was now through.
The teachers were ready
Their classrooms were, too.

Their lessons were planned,
Their posters were hung,
They were tucked in and waiting
For the bell to be rung.

The children were up
playing video games.
They had a reprieve
before school starts again.

But their teachers were dreaming...

I think we all start the school year with a dream of some sort.

Mine is fairly simple - I want to teach as many young men and women as much as I possibly can in the limited time available.

If I'm painfully honest, I'll admit that while I hope they do well on standardized tests, I have doubts that the ability to get a high score on standardized tests proves much other than they are good test takers. I've seen far to many excellent students do poorly on them. I'll spend time working with them to insure that they do as well as possible, but I'll never be sure that it's the best use of our time together.

If I take the time to roll it around in my mind and use the kind of word choice that I like to see in my students, teach may not be the right word at all. I want to mentor them as they learn. I want to point them toward the discovery of new insights. I want to inspire them to be more - more curious, more motivated, more disciplined - as the days pass.

The idea that I am the gatekeeper of all information is simply outdated. There's simply too much information to keep in the corral. Instead in this "brave new world," I see myself as their guide. Sometimes I walk in front of them, sometimes beside them, and sometimes, I step back and let them lead, calling encouragement and warning from behind.

(It all sounds rather poetic doesn't it? Well it is my dream after all and so I can envision it as I see fit.)

The beginning of the year is ripe with possibilities. It's a chance to be better, to do better than I did last year, to improve, to tweak, to reinvent. The fact that it never gets old tell me that I chose wisely.