COLUMN: Somewhere There is My Promised Land

Over the past couple of months I have had the great pleasure to be in touch with students who were in my fifth-grade classes in 1967. (I must have been a child prodigy to be teaching that long ago!)

Each of those students commented on how much they appreciate the impact I had on their lives, an impact that has endured over the years. What they did not realize is how each of them have had an impact on me, which has greatly contributed to the quality of my life.

Siobhan is one of those students who was in my '67 fifth-grade class, the second year of my teaching career. She asked if I would read a poem she wrote in the fourth-grade, which I was happy to do. What I didn't expect was the effect that poem would have on me and how it created an enduring legacy that still lives today.

At first I could not believe that someone 9 years of age could have written something so insightful and thought provoking. I looked at Siobhan and said, "This is so good, it looks as if it could have come right out of a magazine or book." I looked to see how she would respond to my comment, and her joyous smile told me what I wanted to know -- she had truly written that poem. That moment helped me to never again underestimate the true potential and ability of any of my students, and the wonderful surprises that awaited me when those potentials were realized.

My personal realization was that all students have areas of true brilliance and greatness waiting to be tapped and brought to the surface. It became my job to search for and help my students find those areas. I won't say I was successful with every student, but I know I have been able to help many of them find their greatness.

As we bring the tools of technology into our classrooms, they provide almost unlimited opportunities to help children find their areas of brilliance and feel great. Find the greatness -- the brilliance -- that remains untapped with at least one of the students (or people) you are working with. Doing so will ensure that you, too, feel great.

Let me close with another poem by Siobhan:

How can you help bring your students' dreams to life? How can you be great?

*This story is from Converge magazine's Winter 2008 issue.