Things About Me As A Teacher That My Students Can Count On

At a time when the teaching profession is under attack, and elected officials and business leaders are doing everything in their power to make teaching a revolving door profession, I want to identify three principals I have stood for as a teacher that I know my students can count on, and hopefully influence the kind of teachers they become if they enter the profession. 1. I will be there for my students whenever they need me, whether they are in my class or not, and throughout the course of their adult lives. Once my student, always my student. 2. I will stay at the job I love until I am no longer able to function. My students will always know where to find me. 3. I will stand up for my students, my colleagues, and the principles I believe in whether my school administration supports me or not, and whether or not my actions make my out of tune with the current political fashion in the nation. These are the principles I have lived by for the last 45 years, as a teacher, a coach, and a college professor. And I see nothing the current group of education reformers is saying which can persuade me to relinquish them Mark Naison August 5, 2012