Teachers, Don't Forget Joy

• Ed Week

As another school year moves into high gear, I would like to offer a few thoughts.

Not long ago, the room where classmates and I met for our 50th high school reunion buzzed with all the conversations you'd expect: children, grandchildren, retirement, travels, and where we lived. But there was also another equally important conversation—about our teachers and why we remembered them. "She told me I was a writer," one former classmate said. "I loved math because of him." "I wish he'd only lived a little longer; I had so hoped to tell him of the impact he had on my life." "I became a teacher because of her." I wondered as I listened and shared similar musings what my former students might say about me when they think of our time together. Would joy come to their minds?

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