Teaching The Teacher

As I read and pondered on Valerie's last few blog posts, I began to think of the ever-popular catch phrase that we have adopted in education of "Relevance, Rigor, and Relationship". This has become somewhat of a mantra in some educational institution. I remember the first time I heard this phrase during my student teaching experience. At the time I thought that I understood all three concepts. However, as time passes I see that relevance and rigor are still a gray area for me. When I began to think about why this is, it suddenly hit me when I looked at the picture in Valerie's last post.

The seniors pictured in Valerie's post are very important to me and are students that I will never forget. In January of 2007, I came to their class as a student myself who was trying to "learn how to teach" during my student teaching experience. It's hard to believe that they are seniors and that they will soon be college students just like I was when I met them. Though they were just high school students, I have found that they taught me so much about the importance of developing relationships.

As a new teacher, it can be very overwhelming to try and determine relevance and define rigor. I don't know how long it will take for me to fully understand relevance and the entire debate that surrounds it. However, I am making a conscious choice to not let my lack of understanding bother me. Years from now, I hope to look back on the class of 2009 and remember what they taught me about developing relationships. It is because of them that I am looking forward to future classes of students and what they will teach me. Who knows, perhaps a few years from now I will be able to look back and see how my students taught me about relevance and rigor.