Prompt 4
What sustains you in teaching?
Unplanned Joy
— Deborah Bartley-Carter
Discovering new places or visiting historical sites and museums sustains me as a teacher. On a class trip to the aquarium, a student shared with me that they had never been to the beach. They came from a war torn country and moved from place to place before finally arriving in America. Teaching can be exciting and daunting, however, that one comment reminded me why I became a teacher so many years ago. Joy and wonder. A small unplanned detour to the beach, turned into a teachable moment that filled our hearts with joy and kept me going just a little bit longer.
— Myra Bellamy
This is a picture of a few of the bookshelves in the library that I set up. I make sure to assist students with finding that one book that they end up falling in love with, no matter what reading level that they’re on. Then, they keep coming back. They bring their friends to check out the same book as them.
This is a picture of my school building. This is right in the heart of Trenton. I love teaching in the community in which I was born and raised in.
— Myra Bellamy
— Suzanne Vazquez
Explore and make discoveries. Follow your curiosity and learn from it. Life lessons that will carry you with a full life.
— Suzanne Vazquez
Sustainability to be one in nature. Life Lesson to be alone in solitude with your thoughts. Give the gift of loving yourself.
— Malika Johnson-Willis
The possibilities.
— Nagla Bedir
This is a picture from a name tag from a conference I presented at last year along with some of my research collective. We call ourselves “Reclaiming Muslim Educators”. One of the biggest thing that sustains me in teaching are the like-minded educators that I’ve come to meet and who are a vital part of my support system.
I started an organization named Teaching While Muslim in 2018 because I was in desperate need of community and desperately hoping to connect with other Muslim teachers who had also been targeted because of their identities like I had. TWM led me to the people in RME and I’m extremely grateful for the educators who have been my shoulder to cry on and the ear to vent to. Without them, I’m not sure I would have made it this far.
— Nagla Bedir
This was a random letter I found in my mailbox earlier in the school year and it was there after a ROUGH week that had me reconsidering if I wanted to be a teacher or not. More than anything or anyone else in the world - it is my kids that sustain me. They reciprocate the deep love I have for them in ways that I will hold close to my heart forever - like this letter. They’ve nominated me for awards, written me letters, bought me thoughtful gifts, made fun of me, sang with me, cheered me on and just truly loved me for who I am, no matter what season of life I was in for these last 10 years.
The ONLY reason I remained a teacher this long is actually my students’ love. I’ll never forget the year after Covid, we were finally in school. Then the numbers went up again and I told my kids if we went virtual again I would quit teaching. I was soooooo depressed during virtual teaching. And then we went virtual that January and I got so many messages immediately when it was announced telling me “miss don’t quit” and I’m telling you - that was the sole reason I didn’t quit. I love my kids so much. And I’m really so grateful for their love.