Your Impact…positive or negative?

I have always known that educators have power, and that power comes in the expression of words. I can still remember some of the hurtful statements that were said to me by some of my teachers. Now, I know I was not the easiest student, but I also know I was not the most difficult. I also enjoyed school and was active and involved, and yet still had teachers make some hurtful statements. What if I was a student that did not come from a positive home environment, was not successful in school, was not involved? How would the statements that were said to me have affected a different student? I know that teachers are human, after all, I am one. 🙂 That being said, as a child should I have had to endure a teacher saying something hurtful to me that has stuck with me all of these years?

I knew as a young child that I wanted to be a teacher, and deep down I know that came from wanting to make sure students did not experience some of the experiences I had. Again, am I the perfect educator? Absolutely not! Do I make mistakes?…Absolutely, but I think if we took a poll of the majority of educators we would find we share common stories. Now, with that being said, I also think we are capable of falling into the same pattern as the educators before us…I don’t think the teachers that taught me started out intending to say things that would hurt their students…I think life happened. I also think we are just as at risk of having life happen to us, so we MUST make sure that does not happen. We must remember that we wield power with our words, and that our words do linger years after our students leave our classes…both positive and negative, and sadly, as humans we tend to remember the negative more often. So, that makes it even more important that we watch what and how we say something,

We MUST be aware of the impact we make on those around us, and that is done by being aware of the attitude we choose each and every day. As I prepared for my teachers to return to work, I knew we were facing many changes and challenges and we needed to be reminded as to why we CHOSE to become educators. ALL of us, including me, needed to be reminded. Dr. Joe Martin came to speak to our faculty and staff yesterday, and he was just what we needed. There were tears, it was thought-provoking, and  he helped us remember not only WHY we are educators, but the IMPACT our words, actions and attitudes have on our students. He reminded us that “our students cannot afford for us to have a bad day”.

So, as this new school year gets underway I have a question for you…

Your attitude determines the impact you will make, so will you choose to make a positive or a negative impact?