Educator Thoughts

(Get ’em now, ’cause the rest of the blog is for my writing, ye hearties!)

I am extremely fortunate to teach in a community that highly values education. My school has a very strong parental involvement, administration that provides pretty much unlimited resources to bring into the classroom and travel to for professional development, and teachers who mostly use this culture to constantly up their game. Yet, kids are kids, and the four-year-old child in the lower east side of Manhattan needs nurture and guidance as much as the 5th grader in Denver’s Five Points. Resources help greatly, to a degree I don’t fully fathom despite my reflection and gratitude. Ultimately, however, teaching is connecting brains; passing info and experience, modeling and caring so that one brain from another grows bigger in order to eventually navigate this crazy and wonderfully hard, beautifully artful and rewarding world.

Below, I occasionally post thoughts on how best to accomplish the above, trial and error I have doing so, as well as share the fruits of such a rewarding vocation. After two days of conferences with extremely caring, concerned and oft-times anxious parents of Pre-Kindergartners, the thought I want to bring forward for the weekend is:

Don’t worry.

Enjoy this time.

Love your child.

All will be just fine.

Sometimes you just need to let go and take the leap.