The one. When you think back on your years in education do you have a particular student or situation that pops into your mind? Mine is easy. It was a kid that everyone had given up on. A kid that most thought didn’t care to do his work. A kid that was ‘rising’ to every expectation that others had of him. A kid that lit up when we started doing a project that he was interested in. A kid that proved them all wrong.
I will never forget the day he walked into our classroom, dropped a crumpled paper on my desk, and said, “I did some extra research last night.” His paper was torn, writing messy, but on it? It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. It was ‘homework’ that he had done. Unassigned. Thinking at home because he was engaged.
The words on that paper said so much to me before I even read them.
They said that if we believe in a kid, even when it feels like all others have lost hope for them, we can make a difference in his life.
We have an educational system that needs so many changes. So many kids with needs that go unmet. So many shifts in thinking and shifts in doing needed. It can overwhelm us in a heartbeat. But there is the one. The one each and every day you can make a difference for. The one whose life you will impact and who impact yours in ways you might not even realize until later on.
And we have a lot of days in education. A lot of change. A lot of impact. The kind that changes the world.