Post #3-Moments That Affirmed me as a teacher. (Gina)

  What is being a teacher really all about?  What moments have made me feel engaged as a teacher?  I enjoy being asked this question because I find things on a daily basis that make me smile on the inside.  Working in my field as a Sportscaster, I enjoyed it immensely.  I never really thought about teaching as a profession until I started my own family.  In coming into a field that I never really thought about pursing or really knew nothing about was scary for me.  It was frightening to think that I would now be responsible for bringing knowledge to the youth.  They would be taking in what I decided to say, teach and model.
  I then was hit with a wide variety of students with IEP's, which I of course had zero knowledge or experience with.  I took this and made the best out of the situation.  A year ago, I was introduced to a student that has an IEP and was very quiet and closed off.  No one could sit at this students table or engage in a conversation.  I slowly tried to find what would spark an interest in them and eventually found out that they would like to be an on air talent.  I began to help them develop themselves and being supportive of what they wanted to shoot for.  In no time this student was making huge strides.  They were socializing with the best of them and making appearances on our daily Morning Announcements.
  The entire student body now is aware of who this student is and their talents.  This was an on-going, developing story.  Fast Forward to this past Friday.  This student now appears weekly on their own portion of the show.  The show debuted Friday at school, they promptly came to class gave me a pound and said; "Thank you, you knocked it out of the park.  Thank you."  This made me smile inside and I thought-wow this is what it is about.
  Without revealing too much information, this student suffers from something that prevents them from showing too much excitement or emotion or even being grateful for things that may be done to help them.  So in me getting a "pound", smile, thank you (twice) and acknowledgment of the fact that they were pleased-I really do think "they have knocked it out of the park", through coming so far in taking those steps to do something outside of their comfort zone.  Not only did they step outside their box but did it full force and with a smile that never goes away now.  This kid is now known school wide as the funny cool person on that show.  They get high fives from popular football players, dances with the cheerleaders at the recent homecoming dance and teachers now respect them and see the other side of them.
  If I can leave this profession with the assurance that I have made one kid confident or smile-I have affirmed my place here as a teacher.  For some kids that is the only smile, pat on the back or boost of confidence they will ever get.  You never know when your smile or words will make a long lasting impact on a child's life.  To you its just words-but to one child those words will have a lasting impression that may shape them into believing they can be whatever they want to be in life.  I will leave you with this quote we received last year in a meeting.
  "Teaching is a vestige of oneself in the development of another.  And surely the student is a bank where you can deposit your most precious treasures."-Eugene P. Bertin