Hope for the Future: Our Second Grade Shines!

When posed to answer the question by myteachermyhero.com on the hope for the future of American education, it's easy for me to look past the negative news of this past year and focus on the faces of the many students and staff at Jouett Elementary. While this year brought a new president, with new hopes for education funding, the reality is that he does not have a magic wand to wave and *poof* everything becomes "good" again. With the pressures of standardized testing, staying healthy in a world made paranoid by the H1N1 scare, and other negative news about education, it's easy to isolate ourselves in our small rural county and focus on what's most important: the students.

I am so proud of my students this year. We have embarked on new journeys and experiences. We are taking the "budget crunch" in our own hands and getting our own funding through DonorsChoose.org for projects that we feel benefit our class. We are seeking grants to help fund field trips and projects that otherwise might not happen. We are becoming 21st century learners and future leaders by becoming "global" and expanding our worlds to include other students in other places through projects such as Voice Thread and blogs. We are becoming independent learners, inspiring ourselves to learn more about subjects that we are interested in, through the use of our library, the Internet, and other resources. The students are even becoming teachers themselves - teaching other classes, both in second grade and beyond, how to create and utilize technology that we ourselves have learned and mastered.

My class gives me hope and instills in me a warm sense of pride as I watch them grow and learn. This is the future of our country, and the future of our education. How can I not feel that the road ahead, although rocky at times, will lead on to bigger and better things for these wonderful individuals? Happy Holidays to all my students and their families. See you in 2010! :)

This post is part of the MAT@USC Hope for the holidays event. Did you have an experience or witness something in 2009 which gave you hope for the future of American education? If so, please see this post for more information on how to share it.