Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
This is week 2 of my month of celebrating education quotes. I was given a poster of this quote during my first year of teaching. By the end of that year, I knew just what the quote meant to me. You see, when I started teaching, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to be a teacher. It wasn’t far into my first year that I knew teaching was exactly what I wanted to be doing with my life. I made it a goal to become the kind of teacher that excited students about learning.
During my first years of teaching, I was mentored by a fantastic teacher and role model. She helped me become a better teacher and helped me keep from exploding those first few years. Many teachers leave education during the first five years because it is so overwhelming. My desire to be an educator was stronger at the end of my first five years due in a big part to my mentor. In addition, I was privileged to work with some extremely talented and dedicated teachers during my education career. Through the years, I saw over and over the impact that a great teacher could have on a student’s life. This post is dedicated to my mentor, Mary DeRight and all the other fabulous teachers I worked with through the years.
During my years as an educator, I learned that there are several kinds of teachers. A good teacher provides information to students; but, a great teacher fuels the desire of life long learning in students. My wish is that all students will have only great teachers in life.
You might have noticed that I didn’t credit this quote to an author. There’s a great debate on whether or not this quote was by William Butler Yeats or by Plutarch. You can read more about this debate here. Either way, this is one of my favorite education quotes.
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