Contemplating My Core Commitments

In only the first week of our teacher certification classes we have been asked numerous times to contemplate our “core commitments.”  I am still grappling with this notion, but I am going to set some ideas down as a starting point with the intent of revisiting this list repeatedly as I progress through the certification program.  Reading William Ayers’ Introduction to his book To Teach really helped me to start understanding the concept of core commitments.  He states that teachers can decide on some core values and practices that they intend to bring to their classrooms – how they want their students to feel and what kind of place they want their classrooms to be.  So this is where I will begin my journey, by stating the following:

•  First and foremost, I want each of my students to know that I love them and value them
• I want each of my students to know that I expect them to live up to their full potential and that I am there to help them do it, cheering them on all the way
• I want my classroom to be a safe place for my students to challenge themselves without fear of failure – to ask questions and make mistakes (and, in fact, to see failures as a critical part of learning)
• I want my classroom to be a place of open discussion, critical thinking, collaborative problem solving and engaging activities
• I want my classroom to be a place where we respect and listen carefully to one another
• I want my classroom to be a place where our words are used only to build each other up, never to tear each other down
• I want my classroom to be a place that stimulates curiosity and a life-long love of learning
• I want my students to feel empowered to be successful