Because it has teachers, the world has doctors, nurses, engineers, playwrights, poets, musicians, artists…. Educators have the power to make a profound difference, both positive and negative, on a student. I think all of us can name a teacher that made a positive impact on us as learners. We might also be able to name a teacher that took our confidence away.
I hope we educators know the power that we possess. We have the power to make a difference in a person’s life. We have the power to build and we have the power to destroy. A word, a glance, a smile, a statement, an activity, a test – depending on their use, each can either build or destroy a student’s confidence, and confidence is everything.
With confidence we believe that we are capable of achieving our goals. If we believe that we are capable then we will reach our goals. If we believe we can’t, then we won’t.
Let’s challenge ourselves to never stop learning about ourselves, never to stop honing our skills as educators, and never to stop believing that our students can learn.