“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” — Dr. Seuss

This is my legacy to my children — both in my classroom and at home. There is always more to learn and my never-ending quest in life is to learn every day. There are few greater gifts to give children than to open their eyes to learning; to teach them to embrace all that they do not know, in the hopes that they will strive to find it out. I want to motivate my children to read, to learn, to explore beyond the walls of a home or a classroom.

With that knowledge they are driven to find, these children will go out into the world and create and build and share. They will develop friendships, change communities, reach professional goals and realize dreams. The children will know these things are possible because in my home and in my classroom, they will never be told they are not. They will be given a taste of technology and math and science and reading and writing. They will be supported as they navigate the endless rules and guidelines that accompany the curriculum. They meet academic demands and exceed their perceived limitations.

My legacy to my children is to be a lifelong learner. In doing that, they will contribute to the world around them in ways that will bring them happiness and personal fulfillment.

Okay. I know what you’re thinking. This sounds very ideal and “pie-in-the-sky” and what else would you expect from a teacher whose experience, thus far has consisted of a preschool classroom and brief visits into Kindergarten and first grade classrooms. I have not yet been scorned by SLOs, data collection, bureaucracy, and teacher evaluations. I am the wide-eyed rookie looking to change the world. I will hold on to that for as long as I can because I owe it to my students to rise above the nonsense that works to distract for our real purpose — to educate the children. I will teach them how to look beyond the immediate challenges to the rewards of the “big picture” view. That is something I am really good at. Perspective, yes some things will be easier to learn than others, but we have to get through them all, so my legacy to my children is to teach them how to learn through life’s challenges and come out stronger for having done so.

I can only hope to live a long, long life and my students will know that each day I am blessed with is a day I will be learning.