Back to School Thoughts for Teachers
August 24, 2009
For many of you, today or very soon is the first day of school for the 2009-2010 year. We wish you success with your students, and a positive experience for you as well.
As you greet your students and begin to set your personal standards in the classroom and across the campus, please remember that you are a part of one of the most important professions in this country. Character in the classroom is critical not just to your success, but to the success of your students, both academically and behaviorally.
Your modeling of appropriate behavior, attention to detail, and general courtesy are powerful messages in the education process. It is appropriate at this time, to quote again a great message from Dr. Haim Ginott, a former Child Psychologist and Teacher:
“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.”
You are an educator because you want to teach. You will share not only your academic knowledge, but your values, your opinions and your philosophy of life. You cannot help but make difference in a student’s life.
Our hope for you is that you will in all situations be “an instrument of inspiration”.
Have a wonderful school year, and continue to