Legacy: Part 2

In “Legacy: Part 1”, I described the kinds of legacies that I believe we leave (and live) in our everydays - in raising kids, going about life, and in interacting with others.  Now I want to ponder the legacies we leave in our field, as educators and as colleagues. 

Whether we mean to or not, we ARE leaving a legacy; what will it be?

Speaking from my own experience as a student, there were teachers and other school personnel who made me feel smart, feel valued, like I mattered, like they thought I had something to say – to contribute. 

Some others made me feel small, stupid, invisible.  Why is that?  …and how can I ensure that the legacy I’m leaving is one of valuing every student?

In the classroom, in the building, you ARE leaving a legacy…
And you ARE creating that legacy at this very moment…
What will it be?

Is it a legacy of spoon-feeding?
A legacy of low expectations?
A legacy of belittlement?
A legacy of taking?
Of poor attitude?
Of settling for little, for the status-quo?
Of drama?
Of blame?
Of victimization?

…OR…

Will you leave a legacy of positive thinking?
A legacy of self-worth?
A legacy of belief in every student?  That every student can learn?  That “everyone’s good at something, but no one’s good at everything”, so that each child pursues his remarkable gifts and realizes that we all struggle with something and in that struggle he’s not alone?

Will you leave a legacy of giving?
A legacy of responsibility?
A legacy of respect and compassion?
A legacy of making your mark?
Of  peace?
Of  inclusion?

Of listening…really listening?

Of life-long learning?

Of excellence?

Of rigor?

Of curriculum relevance?

Of continual improvement and academic growth?
Of humor?
Of joy?

Of fun?

Will you leave a legacy of leadership?

Will you teach your students that their dreams matter?  That their goals matter?  That THEY matter?

Will you show your students, through your daily actions and words, that you love them unconditionally, that they’re amazing, and that they have a purpose in life, something spectacular to do?

Will you convey to your students what it means to do a job every day with a thirst that can’t be quenched to make a difference?

Will you model for them what it’s like to do work with a passion that burns deep inside of you?

Will you empower students to believe that they, no matter who they are or where they come from, have the capacity to do anything they set their minds to?

Once the legacy is laid down, it will be woven into generation after generation. What will your legacy as an educator say about you 100 years from now?

You are worthy of a legacy as big and as wonderful as God’s love is for you.

And your children - all children - deserve nothing less.