Educators: Be a Light, Our Students are Watching.

My pedagogical style works to create a meaningful impact on my students in the most effective way possible. “Mrs. Bowens, you are like a ray of sunshine. Even if you’re ever frustrated, you never show it. You always smile. You’re like the happiest person I know”. This is a quote from one of my eleventh grade students. What she does not know is that students like her are the reason that I chose the profession of being an educator.

I see intelligence and potential in each of my students. I have an authentic mission to educate and prepare my students for college, work and life beyond high school. I have an authentic commitment to the personal growth, the learning experience and the achievement of each of my students. I realize that I am a text. I am a text whose pages are written with life experiences, perseverance and success. What my student’s compliment also reminds me of is the fact that our students are reading our pages daily – they constantly watch how we carry ourselves and how we act and react. In teaching in the high school setting, I present my students with a genuine representation of a teacher and leader. When my students see me, they do not see the stereotypical contentious and abrasive black woman that the media negatively and inaccurately portrays on television. However, when my students see me, they see grace, confidence, intelligence, professionalism and poise.

The fact that I absolutely enjoy my job and I love the administrators that God has blessed me to work with makes it even more of a delight to effectively contribute to the growth and learning of my students.

So, I urge all of my educator friends and family to be a light. Be that ray of sunshine that illuminates in such a way that every student is attracted to it. Be the text that you would want your own child to read. Be the text that you would want your own child to glean from.

In everything, set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness. – Titus 2:7