MY FAVORITE QUOTATION ABOUT TEACHING

TODAY I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU MY FAVORITE QUOTATION ABOUT TEACHING. When I moved classrooms last year, I misplaced it, as it was on my wall for many years, and I had to take it down when I moved.  I have just re-found it, and I plan to re-copy it and place it behind my desk as a reminder.  When I first began teaching, and while I was raising my children, Haim Ginott was a huge educational philosopher and one of my many gurus for teaching and as a parent.  This quotation just says it all, and shares everything I want to say about the beginning of school.  It is just as relevant now as when it was written so many years ago:

I have come to the frightening conclusion I am the decisive element in the classroom.  It is my personal approach that creates the climate.  It is my daily mood that makes the weather.  As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous.  I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.  I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.  

In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized."  Haim G. Ginott

I re-dedicate myself to this canon, I want to help my students enjoy life, and learning.  I want them to see how far they can go by challenging them, but making it appear effortless at the same time.  I hope for all my students that they see my classroom as an exciting, but safe environment, a place that is joyous, and more than anything else, I wish to be an instrument of inspiration that will carry them through their day.  A tall order, but I will challenge myself every day to reach it.  I know as an example, they will challenge themselves as well.  Have a great week, and happy Wednesday to all!