On September 11th 2001, I was a first year teacher. I taught 6th grade social studies. On September 12th, 2001, I walked into my classroom and looked into the faces of scared children who were looking to me for answers. I didn't have any answers, but I tried to offer hope. Hope that America would rise up and become better in the face of such disaster. Hope that our country would come together and lift each other up and hope that the future would be better than our present.
Today, you walked into your classrooms. You may be a first year teacher; a fifth year teacher; or maybe like me, you have lost count of how many years you've been at it; no matter how long you've been doing this I would guess that you felt a little uneasy this morning. You may not have been sure what your students would be asking you about today, you may have been worried that you wouldn't have the answers they needed. But, what you can do, what we can ALL do, is share a message of HOPE! Take some time to think about it. What is YOUR message of hope to students. My message is that we rise up in the face of adversity. We can look at the mistakes of those who came before us and those who have caused unrest and chaos and learn how we can be better. We can make an effort to be a positive force in our world by doing things for others such as volunteering, spreading kindness, standing up WITH people who need an ally. This is the time to talk to students about the power of THEIR RIPPLE EFFECT! One small act of kindness, goodness and hope will spread far beyond what we can all imagine. As teachers we have a responsibility to positively influence the children we are given the opportunity to spend our days with. DO NOT MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY!
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