Everyone wants a chance to be all they can be...to soar toward the tallest peak of the highest mountain....and feel victorious. We can do this as all the fine teachers before us have done.

Yes and I try to remember that many of these kids will shape who they want to be from the impressions and feedback they get from school. I plan on encouraging kids to make the most of their time at school and help them feel they are in control of their destiny despite their crappy homelife.

I really enjoyed your comment bravo to u

Our jobs as teachers are to lift the students up, to make them believe that they are the best in the world. Everyone has a voice, and everyone should be allowed the opportunity to be heard.

Are we really in control of our destiny or do we merely choose between the meager options we are offered?

sometimes it is hard to see the options that are truly available to you no matter how hard you try. I try to assume the very least my students will do is go to our local community college but often they treat high school as the last stop on their educational tour of duty. Some of them act as if no one had ever suggested they could (or should) go on after high school . Even if they have never heard it before, they will hear it from me. Perhaps that will be the spark that causes them to want more and begin to actively seek out options outside of those they see every day modeled by their family and peers.

Good for you. I admire your intentions and commitment.

One of my favorite books is OH, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss. Even though this is a childrens book, it touches people of all ages. It talks about the different roads we take in life, struggles and decisions. The bottom line is that anyone can succeed! "You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So. . .get on your way!"

When I worked as a teacher's assistant, the teacher once told me for the children who did have a rough homelife, we had to be the ones to show the students there was another way to live. Since then, I guess that's what I have strived to do. Even though some things are accepted else where out in the world, we do it this way at school and/or in the classroom.

When life gives you lemons make lemonaid. Yes I think that some have more difficulty overcoming but with hard work and determination I feel that we can all achieve. People who have to work harder to get there tend to appreciate what they have more.