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Happy Friday! Friday means that it is Fecich family movie night here in our house. We pull out all the stops. First, we make homemade pizza, then we pull out all the blankets and pillows and plop them on the floor. Lastly, Summer gets to choose a special movie to watch. All-day she has been deciding between frozen 2, Cinderella, Moana, and Beauty and the Beast.
Well, she chose Cinderella to watch tonight. Hey, I was just happy I did not have to sit through “Into the unknown” for the 15th time (it is kind of become our quarantine anthem here). Anyway, as I watched Cinderella with her, I couldn't help but think about the one line in this song, “A dream is a wish your heart makes”. I have a few dreams for all my future teachers.
During your courses, we've learned about teaching strategies pedagogy methodology and numerous tech tools. We've explored universal design for learning, differentiated instruction, and assistive technology. We've talked about best practices for elementary, middle, and secondary students. We worked through the ISTE standards and explored the Charlotte Danielson framework for teaching. We’ve looked at teaching strategies to reach all learners. We created digital portfolios and posted too many times to count on our professional social media accounts. We completed assignments, took the tests, wrote the papers, did a presentation or two, and completed group projects - but these aren't my dreams for you.
My first dream for you, future teacher, aspiring educator is that during this time that we’ve had with each other is that you've learned how to be a gracious, caring, thoughtful, honest, educator. I hope that you are present with your students and that you show up each day for them. You never know who needs to see the smile on your face. Reach out and get to know each of your students – they are individuals. They all need you and you need them.
My second dream is that you've learned to have a growth mindset and a professional, positive attitude. Through this tough time, we worked through moving from a face to face space to an online space. I went from seeing each of your faces every Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning to seeing only 4 of you at a time on a screen – most of the time is just an icon with your initials. I went from being able to walk around a classroom to check in with each of you to ask each of you to post to a large group with an emoji or a gif. Through it all, you have been nothing short of amazing. For that I thank you. You kept a positive attitude, professional demeanor, and put on your patience pants. We all had to – that is what being a teacher is all about. We need to be flexible, accommodate, and modify.
My third dream for you is that you never stop learning that after this class it just ignites this fire within you, a passion to just keep going and learning more and being the best that you can for every student that enters your classroom. Learning never ends it is just beginning.
With the semester ending, this is not at all how we dreamed of our spring 2020 ending. But this is what we have – this is what we work with. So, my dream for you, future teacher is that you continue to be unstoppable!