Letting your light shine...

Now that we are in the second week of school, I continue to think about the environment and culture  that I want to create in my room. One of the most important that I want to focus on is respect and persistence. I want students to have respect for themselves and for others...I want them to feel that I have respect for them and their ideas. This is about letting my light shine. A small crack in the exterior can release something so beautiful that it can create a path shining before them. Letting my light shine can create a safe place for them to let theirs shine as well.

This is about growth. It's about moving forward in a new and exciting direction, creating a space where beauty can become apparent. Creating a place where all voices are heard and respected. Each of these voices a light that offers something to the picture. I want the smallest voices, then students unheard to feel that they have a place to open their mouths and let their beautiful song be shared into the world. A song that will carry them through this year and beyond. I want to give them a voice, teach them to persist, that they are worthy, that the world is their oyster open and fresh in front of them rather than snapped impossibly shut with no tools to use.

Cracking open the hard exterior, releasing their light one glimmer at a time soon makes a gorgeous palate that lights up the room, the school, the sky. Each light blending in with another, each student openly showing of themselves, where they are and what they bring to the table.

This is about finding oneself and the strength that is in their light. I am but just one, but one that can shine on the path, one that leads the way because our light is precious and often snuffed out by frustration and disappointment. My light, it brings hope and with hope, all things can be conquered, all goals achieved, anything can be accomplished.