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Is it too late?!!?
By katelmoore | April 17, 2009
Right now I’m at the National High School Journalism conference and the issue of hope is very real for me. Last week I had an awful teaching experience that really made me question if I’m cut out for this. It was certainly not my worst teaching moment ever, but it was a doozy. Today I am surrounded by awesome amazing teachers who have done this hard, hard job for 30+ years, “flunked retirement,” and come back to mentor new teachers and encourage them. Without my journalism mentor teacher I know I would have quit a dozen times this year. Which really speaks to me about the need for hope and encouragement in our students lives. If I didn’t believe, every moment of every day, that every kid can learn, succeed, and live a successful life, I would think that I had perversely chosen my calling. A long time ago I went to hear Howard Zinn speak. If you’ve never read his book, “A People’s History of the United States” you may not know that it is a recitation of the historical horrors of our country that are not generally included in your average text book. After the lecture, an audience member asked Dr. Zinn how he remained so positive and hopeful in the face of reporting such horrors.
Dr. Zinn answered, “There is always hope. Each one of us is like a man throwing pebbles into the river to try to change its course. We never know which pebble will do the job, we just have to keep throwing them.”
We never know which pebble will turn the course of a student’s life. I, for one, never want to stop just one pebble short, even though sometimes my throwing arm, and my soul, become weary.
Topics: Inspiration, Mentor Stories, Uncategorized |
April 18th, 2009 at 7:57 am
I am inspired by your quote, and I want to know more about your terrible teaching moment.