I am just like you

I am just like you.

• I care deeply about my students.  I get involved in their lives so they know that I care about them as people first.  I attend their athletic competitions, their drama performances, their art shows.  I want to know who they are inside, not what score they are on a test.
• I work hard to develop lessons that engage all learners.  My students need to find a way to connect with the material to make it meaningful and I strive to find ways to make that happen every day.
• I am over-worked and under-paid.  The lights in my room come on at 6am and typically don't turn off until after 3.  After some family time and dinner I start the 2nd half of my job.
• I am constantly under attack from my elected officials because they feel like they know how to do my job better than I do even though they have never set foot in my classroom.
• I love my job!
• I bring passion and energy to everything I do.  I get excited over chemistry so that my students will get excited over chemistry.

So what about me is "intimidating"?

• Are you curious about the technology that I use in my classroom?  Then ask me to show you how to use it in your room.
• Is it my level of energy that I bring every day?  I do it to inspire others to do the same.  You hold yourself to a higher standard so your students have something to work towards, why shouldn't you do the same for your colleagues?
• Are you afraid that I am going to try to change you?  That is not my job.  If you are doing what's best for kids, holding them to a high standard, and challenging them every day then you are perfect just the way you are.  I am just doing it a different way.

Different is not bad.  You are different from me, but really I am just like you.