U is for Unique

No one in the world is just like me. No one is just like you. No one in the world is just like each of your students. No one teaches students quite like each teacher does. And each of the families which your teaching touches is just as singular. No two days or hours or webinars are the same. So what does this uniqueness mean to teaching and how do we harness its benefits?

Each student deserves a part of you, your time, your input, your view. We each have stories about those moments when another human being touched our lives in a distinctive way, where memories which have spanned years engraved themselves on our hearts and minds, and shifted our universe.

Several years ago I went on a search for my first grade teacher and found her. She graciously responded and whether or not she actually remembered me, she reconnected and stays in touch. She acknowledged my fond memories and how I felt I owed her an overdue debt of gratitude for the difference she made in my life at such a young age.

I have relocated my tenth grade English teacher, another pivotal influence in my decision to be a writer, an English teacher, and a leader. Each of these two teachers made the difference that has spanned decades and whose imprint couldn't have been left by anyone else. Thousands of people have come and gone, and while they may not have shifted my life dramatically, they still left a part of themselves behind to shape who I have become..

Celebrate the uniqueness of you. In addition, celebrate the same in your students. If it is still early in your career, you have many more years to gather students into your memory book. Don't let an opportunity slip by without making that connection. It will be a moment you can't recapture and one which you might end up regretting.

You are teaching at a unique time in education history and writing a singular chapter by being a part of it all. Share this experience with a student or a colleague today by talking with them about what teaching and learning means. And don't be surprised if twenty years from now one of these same students sends you an invitation to reconnect. No one else will have touched that student's life like you have.

Reflection:  How do you think your students, especially virtual students, perceive you? And how do you think they settled on that perception? Can you provide the role model young people need when it comes to judging others' unique qualities?