Advocating for Students

One of the most fundamental roles of an educator is that of an advocate.  As an ESOL and GCC teacher, I have a unique perspective and understanding of our educational system. With that, comes a profound responsibility to my students, their families, and my colleagues. 

 As an advocate, one of my most important responsibilities is maintaining high expectations for both my students and my colleagues. Over the years, I have seen the transformative power of students seeing themselves through the eyes of educators who believe in their abilities. Because of this, my expectations must also extend to other teachers. 

 Our work as educators is vitally important and we must hold one another accountable to high standards of excellence.  This means knowing our students’ backgrounds, educational experiences, and language proficiency and then differentiating our lessons accordingly. It means leveraging students’ strengths rather than only remediating where we may see gaps.  As an advocate, I must support and model this for my colleagues while also reflecting on my own teaching.  

 Advocating is also ensuring that students and their families are able to understand and navigate the opportunities available to their children and eliminating barriers to access in the system.  I have become acutely aware of disparities in access to rigorous programming and have worked and will continue to work tirelessly to eliminate this inequity.  Because I know how advanced programming can change the trajectory of a student’s life I am fervent in my commitment to promoting this for all students.

 I have the unique privilege of working with students from all over the world. They have demonstrated tremendous courage in coming to the United States and into our schools.  They’ve already demonstrated their fortitude and commitment to a new life.  My role in their education may begin in the classroom, but it must not stop there.