“How does school make you feel?”

“How should school make kids feel?”

I asked my kids these two questions last week. Of course, there were a number of different responses. This did not surprise me. And among the responses there seemed to be one common denominator, which they frequently expressed as, “It depends on the teacher.”

This did not surprise me either.

So much. So much that it seems unfair sometimes. It’s a lot to carry. Everything we do–or don’t–impacts our kids’ days. It’s unavoidable. And as such, when kids regard their experiences, it’s inevitable that their feelings lead them to us.

But fair or not, it’s our lot. I call it our “Beautiful Burden.”

The Burden

We can carry it on our backs. 

And we often do. 

We feel the weight of the world as outside forces impact our work with our kids. 

From state tests, to poverty, to system shortcomings, to global pandemics, we often feel overwhelmed and powerless. 

And sometimes how kids feel is beyond our control. 

And then when someone reminds us that they will never forget how they felt with us, it weighs on us, and it becomes the burden we carry on our backs.

The Beauty

Or we can carry it in our hands. 

We can come to realize that while there is much outside our rooms that we cannot control, there is a great deal inside our rooms that we can. 

Our work is human work. 

And in that there is power, there is beauty, for we can impact people, young people in ways that will last a lifetime. 

There’s truth in that. 

No less than there’s truth in the fact that culture in the classroom happens with or without us. 

Without us, it is left to chance and chaos as if someone else is in front of the room. 

But we are in front of the room. 

And when we assume that responsibility, we become creators of culture. 

And culture is a human construct.

And because we are nothing if not emotional beings, then culture begins and ends with how we feel. 

And how kids feel begins the moment they enter our rooms, and in that we have an opportunity in our hands.

Whether you carry it on your back today or you have it hand, thank you. I know–we know–the weight you carry. We know the beautiful burden, and we want you to know that you are not alone. We get it. And that’s why we are proud to stand at the front of the room with you. Thank you for being a teacher.

The kids depend on you.

Happy Thursday, all. May you carry it in your hands today.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.