I AM A TEACHER

I am a teacher.
I was born the first moment that a question leaped from the mouth of a child.
I have been many people in many places.
I am Socrates exciting the youth of Athens to discover new ideas through the use of questions.
I am Anne Sullivan tapping out the secrets of the universe into the outstretched hand of Helen Keller.
I am Aesop and Hans Christian Anderson revealing truth through countless stories.
I am Marva Collins fighting for every child's right to an education.
I am Mary McCleod Bethune building a great college for my people, using orange crates for desks...
I am also those whose names and faces have long been forgotten but whose lessons and character will always be remembered in the accomplishments of their students...
I have a past that is rich in memories.  I have a present that is challenging, adventurous and fun because I am allowed to spend my days with the futre.
I am a teacher...and I thank God for it every day.


I came across this piece of writing the night I spoke to the principal of Cambridge English School in Kuwait and learned my job for the next year will be as a grade four classroom teacher.  It was written by John W. Schlatter and included in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.  It seems fitting that I found it when I did. I haven't been in a classroom for a long time, I'm nervous about working with a large, active group of nine year olds, I sometimes question the sanity of my decision to take off to parts unknown.  Reading this reminded me that no matter what the next year holds for me - or the years after that - there is one thing I know to be true - I am a teacher.