why still teaching?
why am I still teaching?
why does the weight of the burdens
my students feel thrust upon them
not break my spirit when my empathy leaps me to them?
what gives me the energy to be there day after day, for them?
even when impulse and contrariness thwart movement forward?
I really don’t know the answer,
yet I can imagine what might be going on,
somehow I have a gift,
the gift of seeing the student as whole, intentional,
I see the incipient thrusting at its binders
hoping to break free of diminishment
and finding the power
that should be its birthright,
our school is structured well enough
that empowerment gains are often within the kids’ grasp,
enough that they are actually able to grasp them,
and thus their victories empower me, too,
to stay longer as teacher.
by Henry H. Walker
October 19, ‘18
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