They are the sons and daughters of life's longing ...
They come through you but not from you
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you
You may give them your love but not your thoughts
For they have their own thoughts
You may house their bodies but not their souls
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams
You may strive to be like them
But seek not to make them like you
For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday
You are the bows from which your children
As living arrows are sent forth
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite
And he bends you with his might
That his arrows may go swift and far
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness
For even as he loves the arrow that flies
So he loves also the bow that is stable." --Kahil Gibran
It occurs to me that teachers are, at the same moment, both the archer and the bow: we imagine our student's mark upon the path of the infinite.
And we bend so that our students may go swift and far from bows which are stable. We do this in gladness for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow and we might strive to be like them. Teaching is not for the faint of heart but for those with strong open hearts capable of bending when students need us to go beyond the curriculum of academics and reach for what our students need most.
So what is it they most need?
Let's make a list.
“Those that can ... teach.”
“The more you fail...
the more you learn.”
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