What I Hope For My Students

On Day 2 of Summer Spark I attended Aaron Hogan's session on professional blogging and why it's important. I didn't need convincing, I needed inspiration. After going through the obvious benefits, he gave us a few minutes to start writing...here's me writing.

The prompt I chose was, What are my hopes for my students?  Without thinking too hard about this, here are my three, immediate, gut responses.

I hope my students can manage themselves.  This is so broad. Successful people have strong executive functioning skills and can manage time dynamically. They manage a schedule, manage a project, focus in complex situations...this is what we try to teach our students. I also hope they can manage themselves in social situations or at a job. Can they carry on a conversation? Do they have self care skills to create good first impressions? Can they follow through?

I hope my students learn to recognize differing viewpoints when someone doesn't agree with them.  This does not need further explanation.

I hope my students know how to build other people up and how to ask for help when they need it. Above all else, I want the students I work with to be good people. I want them to strive to be the reason someone smiles. At the end of the year when I'm signing yearbooks or filling out GradGrams for my seniors, I leave them with my favorite quote:

My own self, at my very best, all the time.

William H. Danforth

Finally, everyone needs to know how to ask for help when they need it. I may teach them how to ask for help on a paper from a writing center on campus or I might try to teach them to understand the signs when they or someone else might need help due to a mental health issue. Self-advocacy is one of the most important skills a person can have. 

Aaron gave us some hints or "permissions" as I'd like to call them.

1) Always keep an idea list of blog topics

2) Schedule time (this is going to be the most, most difficult for me...but I'm working on it. See previous blog post)

3) Don't get bogged down in editing or wordsmithing

#3 is my favorite. 

Thank you, Aaron for giving me permission to just get my ideas out and the courage to do so.