August 2005 • Volume 9 • Number 1 • Page 5

Perspective

Sue Swaim

The Power of Positive Relationships

It's August and school is back in session! New students, new middle level parents, new teachers, and new administrators are all figuring out the start-of-school activities. New surroundings, new people, and new opportunities always evoke a variety of emotions. It's an exciting time for some and a scary time for others.

As I think about the excitement of the beginning of a new school year, I find myself reflecting on what it means to be a middle level educator in today's world. I can still recall my anticipation (and nervousness) about my first day as a teacher. I thought I was ready to become the "perfect" teacher only to find out within the first few weeks that someone hadn't assigned me the "perfect" class of students. Activities I thought would work didn't. Some days students were actively engaged in the lesson I planned and sometimes they showed little interest. Grading homework seemed to become an around-the-clock activity—one that I hadn't expected to be so labor intensive.

Luckily for me, I was surrounded by some veteran teachers who shared both their humor and their wisdom with a young and eager teacher. And, with time, I came to understand the trials and tribulations of life at the middle level!

Early in my mentoring process, my colleagues convinced me by word and by example that students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Obviously, working with young adolescents demanded more than content knowledge mixed with effective instructional strategies. It also meant I needed to be a good listener, to respect their concerns, to understand that making mistakes was an important part of learning, and that meaningful learning experiences were those that were relevant to them today not 10 years from now.

I discovered along the way that I always had more questions than answers about everything! And, I learned that I, like my 10- to 14-year-old students, was always in the process of "becoming." I think that together we discovered growing up can be very hard work.

Thirty-eight years later, I still have more questions than answers, but I know for certain that positive relationships—student-to student, student-to-teacher, educator-to-educator, and child-to-parent—provide the critical foundation for success in school and a promising future for every child. Relationships do matter and in today's world they are a critical part of being a highly qualified and effective middle level educator.

Each year brings new opportunities and new challenges. Among those opportunities is the chance to reflect about what it means to be a highly qualified and effective middle level educator in today's world. Among the challenges is the commitment each of us needs to renew our efforts to implement middle level schools that engage every student in a relevant, challenging, and meaningful curriculum and does so in an environment that fosters respectful and supportive relationships among students, faculty, families, and the community.

So, welcome back to a school year that is guaranteed to be filled with new faces, new friends, new surprises, new laughter, and a few new grey hairs along the way. Nothing compares to being a middle level educator. Enjoy ... and take pride in the fact that you’re making a positive difference in the lives of your students every single day. They need and deserve your best efforts.