I am again looking forward to the classroom. I feel like it was long ago when I was there. I miss the interactions between students, watching young people make meaning of the world around them. I miss the opportunities to improve compassion and skill and purpose. I miss working with teachers who, by default, are amazing people with amazing talents to impact the learning of children.
September of 2009 will be a reopening of the Wittwer Classroom with its cleverness, insight, and humor. And most of all, the high level of learning. The walls will bare (much to the dismay of my elementary-teaching friends) except for projects on which the students are working. However, the seats will be filled with smiling middle schoolers. Yes, they do smile. And their ability to learn is fast and their desire is voracious.
The process of finding a job has brought with it both a sense of stress as I organize paper and people to find a position, but it has also brought a sense of reflection on how important education is. Essential to me is my involvement in education, in all or any of its forms. My parents were teachers, my grandparents teachers, my in-laws teachers. It is not genetic, but it certainly is a mind-set.
Education is a founding truth to the American way. Education allows everyone to better themselves and elevate both their status and compassion. I am excited to again be part of a crucial cog in the education machine.
That is not to say that I have not been teaching. Quite the contrary. During this leave of absence, I have work with numerous education groups, the greatest of which is with National Board candidates, teachers pursuing National Board Certification. The process that these teachers go through to impact student learning is rigorous and reflective. I enjoy working with teachers during this time, discussing their art of teaching and honing the skills of pulling students in. Through them, I have never left the classroom. Washington has an education system on the rise.
Additionally, I have used this time to be in my sons' classrooms, all three of them. I have watched my sons' skills grow due to the intentional teaching by capable teachers. It is a positive thing to be in a classroom with your child and feel the environment and care and thought put into each well crafted lesson. I recommend it to everyone.
The year closes with a positive outlook for everything educational. What positive schooly experience have you had?
I admire you for putting your own kids ahead of your career, but there’s a lucky school just witing for your return, Travis. Great post!
the whole world is lucky to have you in it yet alone teaching.