Thankful for the Mountains We Climb

2016 is an incredible time to be a teacher.

I am grateful for each and every day I get to work alongside the best of the best in education.

While expectations are high, standards seem impossible to meet, and the everyday trials and struggles we face seem endless, this time in our country and our world is truly an incredible time to be a teacher. We have so much more access to research about how and why we learn. We have clearer pictures of our brains and all they can accomplish.

We might be up against some very difficult mountains to climb, but the teachers that have gone before us have never been as well equipped as we are today.

As a teacher I’ve always been fascinated with the brain – how it operates so much more than just our physical bodies. Each and every day, new research is published confirming something I think teachers have always known.

Our brains can grow – they can change.

You ask any teacher if this is true and I believe you’d hear an overwhelming response of, “Well of course our brains can change!” You see, teachers witness it on a daily basis. We’ve called it the light bulb effect for years, the moment the students just click and get it. You know what that light bulb moment is? That’s just the brain growing, that’s the brain expanding when it’s challenged. How humbling is it that we as teachers have the ability to see this each and every day? To see our students’ brains grow, expand and reach new heights?

No doubt we have mountains to climb, demons to conquer, and we face struggles no teacher workforce before us ever has, but we also have tools. We have research on growth mindset that is revolutionizing our approach to our students. We have the ability to build relational capacity with our students and families in so many ways to better reach students exactly where they are. We have strength in knowing here at FLVS our students have access to personalized education that truly transcends any mountain, wall, or obstacle.

As we sit on the verge of 2017, I am thankful to be a small part of the wonder that is education.

We have a lot of work ahead of us and with that hard work will come great accomplishments, dreams realized, and most of all, students at the center of everything we do. What a time to be an educator. What a time to be an educator making a difference in this world! What a time to climb this mountain of education with all the tools, resources, and support we could ever need right here in our grasp.

Mountains can be obstacles it’s true, but they can be stepping stones too.

The beautiful thing is it’s your choice how to approach them. If you’re facing a mountain today, don’t be discouraged by the climb, be thankful for the chance to grow, expand, and reach new heights.

If you’re facing a mountain, don’t be discouraged by the climb! It can help you grow and reach new heights.

I’m thankful for my mountains today, how about you?

Post by former FLVS Teacher Amanda Schaffer