Blog Post #1 (in your new blog): Tell us about a classroom event this year that had an impact on your professional growth and/or vision this year.

For me, my classroom event was not a lesson.  My classroom event was the first time I realized how powerful it is that I believe in all of my students.  I was a student teacher in a sixth-grade self-contained classroom.  My students were mostly ELLs and all were low socio-economic status.  We were doing a reading comprehension activity related to a story out of the literature text book.  The question asked the students: "what's a goal you have and what do you think it will take to achieve it?"  As a class, we brainstormed possible goals.  Many students wanted to be professional athletes or performers, which, while fantastic dreams, are rather unrealistic.  Not every single student in my class is going to become famous.  I posed the question, "what about going to college?"  To my surprise, many of my students had never considered the possibility of going to college.  They responded that college was too expensive.  I ended up teaching a lesson on financial aid and scholarships that day.  Impromptu with no lesson plan, straight from the heart. Sometimes the best lessons are that way. My students were excited and enthusiastic about the idea of going to college, and we had several more conversations about going to college during my placement.  I realized then how important it is to discuss the future with your students and to believe in them, even if others don't.  All students deserve opportunities, regardless of their background, language abilities, intellectual abilities, or socio-economic status.  A good teacher helps students to see opportunities and the ways to achieve them.