There are no words to match my gratitude

There are no words to match my gratitude,
However much like Shakespeare I might write.
Above all else, you've shaped my attitude,
Nurturing me with discipline and light.
Knowledge is the least of what you taught,
Yet that least at least prepared my head.
Out of your heart I've learned the things I ought,
Underscoring words you never said.

Copyright by
Nicholas Gordon



You're the person that I most admire.

You're the person that I most admire,
The person that I most would like to be.
Your friendship, like a torch, has lit a fire
Deep within the cave where I am me.
Because of you, I want to be a teacher,
Touching someone's life as you've touched mine.
And when I'm you I'll know just how to reach her,
Giving her the faith that she can shine.
Though you now must leave, and we must part,
A little piece of you remains behind,
Held with gratitude within my heart,
A portrait of a lady good and kind.
You will be part of everything I do;
When I need strength, I'll look inside for you.

Copyright by
Nicholas Gordon



The Day Teachers Were Created

While the Good Lord was creating teachers, He was into His sixth day of
'overtime' when the angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot
of fiddling around with this one."
And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order?
She has to: stand above all her students, yet be on their level,
be able to do 180 other things not connected with the subject she teaches,
run on coffee, cokes, and leftovers,
communicate vital knowledge to thousands of students daily,
and be right, have as much, and sometimes more, time
for her job as she does for herself,
have a smile that can endure everything from practical
jokes to pay cuts,
go on teaching when parents question her every move and the
administration doesn't understand,
and have six pairs of hands.
The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs
of hands...not possible."
"It's not the hands that are causing me problems,"
said the Lord. "It's the three
pairs of eyes that teachers have to have."
"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.
The Lord nodded. "One pair that can see a student for what
he is and not what society has labeled him. Another pair must
be in the back of her head, to see what she shouldn't,
but what she has to know.
OF course, the ones here in front can look at a child
when he goofs up and reflect, 'I understand and I still believe
in you." without so much as uttering a word."
"Lord," said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, "Come to
bed. Tomorrow…"
"I can't," said the Lord. "I'm so close to creating something
so close to myself.
Already I have one who comes to work when she is too sick
...can still teach a class when they don't want to learn
...loves thousands of children that are not her own...
and all of this in both sexes. And wait until you see my
Special Ed teacher! She is truly special; she will never
take anything her students do for granted."
The angel circled the model of the teacher very slowly.
"It's too soft," she sighed.
"But tough," said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine
what this teacher can do or endure."
"Can she think?"
"Not only can she think, but she can reason and compromise."
Finally the angel bent over and ran her fingers across
the cheek of the teacher.
"There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that
you were putting too much into
this model. You can't imagine the stress factor."
The Lord moved in for a closer look and gently lifted
the drop of moisture to His
finger where it glistened and sparkled in the light.
"It's not a leak," He said. "It's a tear."
"A tear?" asked the angel. "What's it for?"
"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, compassion,
pain, loneliness, and pride."
"You are a genius," said the angel.
The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there."

-Author Unknown



Educators Pledge

I accept not only the responsibility to instruct my students,
but the responsibility to take advantage of the opportunity
to stimulate and excite young people educationally.

I accept the responsibility to encourage my students to believe
in themselves, and I will do this by helping them to develop
specific awareness of the power that each one of them
possesses to determine their own destiny.

I will challenge my students to reach just beyond that point
where they are comfortable, so they will discover that their
own perceptions of their potential are not their true limits.

As I set challenging tasks and goals before my students, I will
guide them through the specific steps that will enable each
one to reach these goals. This setting of high standards and
giving the proper guidance to achievement will enable my
students to become aware of their true potential, which is,
through step-by-step disciplines and hard work, to go
beyond what they ever thought possible.

I will take advantage of the opportunity to guide my students
to a concrete understanding of their own abilities:
-to question, rather than to just accept what they are told,
-to seek answers, when there are no simple solutions,
-to seek to understand, when true understanding requires
grappling and wrestling with difficult concepts and ideas,
-to reason, using their own minds as sources of original thought,
-and to become contributors to, rather than just partakers of,
the well-being of the world in which they live.

My educational goal is the empowerment of my students.

by Barbara H. Wagner