Final Reflections
Sometimes teachers don’t always see the blooms from the seeds that they have planted. What is important to remember is the quote from Robert Louis Stevenson: don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant. Our seeds are our love for our students, our compassion for their hurts, and our desire that they become productive members of our communities.
Lately, I have been shaking my head and asking God to get me out of the school system. My soul seldom luxuriates in what I am doing – rather it remains disgusted by the language and behaviors exhibited by some of our students. But what I am hearing from God is to commit to this mission field where my students may see the love of Christ. I may be one of few who tries to show them the right thing to say and do. My classroom may be the only place in which they get to hear do your best or don’t insult your classmates. This profession called teaching is so much more than that. Our students see integrity when they come into our classes. They sense the logic, and law and order that is modeled for them. Our students need the consistency, and structure that we afford them in our classes. We make sense out of their ups and downs. We calm their chaos for a little while when they are in our classes.
I am reminded of how much our students need us. I humbly confess this. I am encouraged to know that when we plant the seeds of hope, and tolerance, and knowledge, that our students will water and nurture what has been planted within them. We may not get to see the blooms, but we can be assured that they will grow through what Tupac Shakur calls the crack in the concrete. Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew through concrete when no one else ever cared. The seeds we plant sometimes have to grow through concrete. We must continue to sow the seeds that will overcome the concrete. My goals at this point include continuing to plant the seeds for the next few years.
Sometimes teachers don’t always see the blooms from the seeds that they have planted. What is important to remember is the quote from Robert Louis Stevenson: don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant. Our seeds are our love for our students, our compassion for their hurts, and our desire that they become productive members of our communities.
Lately, I have been shaking my head and asking God to get me out of the school system. My soul seldom luxuriates in what I am doing – rather it remains disgusted by the language and behaviors exhibited by some of our students. But what I am hearing from God is to commit to this mission field where my students may see the love of Christ. I may be one of few who tries to show them the right thing to say and do. My classroom may be the only place in which they get to hear do your best or don’t insult your classmates. This profession called teaching is so much more than that. Our students see integrity when they come into our classes. They sense the logic, and law and order that is modeled for them. Our students need the consistency, and structure that we afford them in our classes. We make sense out of their ups and downs. We calm their chaos for a little while when they are in our classes.
I am reminded of how much our students need us. I humbly confess this. I am encouraged to know that when we plant the seeds of hope, and tolerance, and knowledge, that our students will water and nurture what has been planted within them. We may not get to see the blooms, but we can be assured that they will grow through what Tupac Shakur calls the crack in the concrete. Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew through concrete when no one else ever cared. The seeds we plant sometimes have to grow through concrete. We must continue to sow the seeds that will overcome the concrete. My goals at this point include continuing to plant the seeds for the next few years.