What is your job and how can you do it well?

Sometimes we see the snags and potholes all around us, but we forget to look at the opportunity within us--the opportunity to truly make change and do good work. A relatively new teacher reminded me of that yesterday as he spoke on a panel at MTA's Just for New Teacher Conference.

It's easy to see the obstacles, but not always easy to see the potential. What can you do?

For me the job is to teach children well. That means I can do the following:

• Reach out to families with the good news and news of opportunities that exist
• Make extra time to help students learn, get along, create, and communicate
• Read, research, create, and learn continually to teach better
• Organizing the learning environment for optimal learning/teaching
• Making time for engaging, empowering, educational learning experiences with students
• Speaking up, working systematically, and reaching out with respect to advocate for and contribute to positive development in schools and school systems
• Making sure I have the energy, skill, and motivation to teach well

I'm sure I'll think of other ways I can boost my work in the days to come, but the idea of looking in rather than out is one powerful way to elevate what you can do to teach well. Onward.