Goal: Plant a Seed

Part of the Goals 2010 Challenge Series, Goal 25

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One tidbit I carried from church was that having a mustard seed of faith could move mountains. I believe this theory applies to education. I believe if I plant a mustard seed of faith into the mind of every student, then perhaps then will believe that they can achieve success. Belief in yourself makes a big difference. If students believe they can go to college, then they will strive to complete high school. If students believe they can have successful careers, then they might work towards earning the credentials for that career. What is more powerful than belief is hopelessness. I see this daily. There are many students who do not believe in themselves and they live in poverty. Their children feel their hopelessness and often repeat the cycle. I see teachers who lack faith in the system. They teach without passion and without the belief that they can make a difference.

Our Attitudes

Everyday, we walk into the classroom we plant seeds in our students. When a student struggles we can choose to say, “Yes, I believe you can do this. I will help you.”  We also can choose to ignore the student or believe the student is lazy and just does not want to learn. When students disappoint us we can believe in them enough to challenge them to do better or we can give up on them.
I will admit that having faith is not easy, especially when we are underpaid, surrounded by students who are uninspired, blamed by parents, or stressed by test scores. However, I believe in passion. Passion takes faith, faith that you as an educator can make a difference and faith that all your students can achieve.
It is not easy having that faith, but we must muster this for our students. Trust me, your worst behaved student is probably the one most teachers and people did not believe in. Therefore, your belief could be the one seed of faith ever planted in this student.
My long-term goal is to continue having this faith and to plant these seeds of faith in every student so that I can move educational mountains. I have students I struggle with and those are the ones I want to ensure I have faith in, because they probably need my faith the most.
You give me faith. I see the work educators like you do in your blogs, wikis, videos, webinars, e-books, and so forth. You have given me the faith and passion to move educational mountains. Therefore, if you lack faith in your abilities, then let me be the first to tell you that you can and do make a difference.
Challenge:
Reflect on how you can plant more seeds of belief in your students and how they can begin to believe in themselves.

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This is goal 25 of this series! If you’d like to join the challenge, please read this post!

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Where do you get your passion for teaching from?


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