Inspiration

I love quotes.  Quotes can be very inspirational.  I've come across several that inspire me in my role as advocate for young children and their families.

"I am only one; but still I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  I will not refuse to do the something I can do." - Edward Everett Hale

"Be the change you want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

"Change starts when someone sees the next step." - William Drayton

"The beginning is the most important part of the work." - Plato

These four quotes remind me that it only takes one person to make or start a change for something better.  And, when we see something that should be changed, especially when it comes to educating and helping our children succeed, shouldn't we do everything in our power to change it?  It can be hard to start, especially if you're not sure that you can make a difference.  But you can.  No matter how large or small that difference may seem to you or to someone else, to a child that difference can be enormous.  So we have to believe in our ability to make a change, begin the process and take that next step.

"I continue to believe that if children are given the necessary tools to succeed, they will succeed beyond their wildest dreams." - David Vitter, U.S. Senator

The thing that inspires me the most about my advocacy plan is being an advocate for those children who sometimes get lost in the shuffle of transitioning into a new school or those that may be struggling in a particular subject but are overshadowed by the children who are excelling in the classroom.  There are parents and other people within our community who are willing to help these children but one of the biggest challenges I face is in the timing and consistency of the classroom volunteers.  Another challenge comes in trying to reallocate some of the resources already available in the school so students get the additional help inside the classroom during instruction time for the subject they are struggling in rather than outside the classroom where they could be missing that valuable instruction time.  My solutions are by no means perfect, but I hope that through continued talks with the classroom teachers and the school principal, we can come up with a solution that is the most beneficial to these children.  I believe very strongly that there is a disconnect with these children in a lot of classrooms.  Certainly not purposefully by the teachers or the administrators but it does happen.  I want children to have the best opportunity to succeed in their new environment and I know the classroom teachers, counselors, parents, and administrators do as well.  To be effective in presenting and implementing my Advocacy Action Plan, I have to ensure that I have a solid grasp on exactly what I'm proposing and the benefits to making these changes in resources and/or using parent and community volunteers.  I will need to consider the types of opposition I may encounter as far as cost, the number of children being helped by current resouces versus how that number would change if we reallocate the resources into individual classrooms.  In addition, I would need to have a general plan for recruiting and/or training potential volunteers or mentors and determine if a specific time commitment would be requested from those volunteers.  Would that decrease the number of volunteers or would that stabilize the number of volunteers throughout the semester or school year? 

To encourage others in their advocacy efforts, I go back to the quotes above. Any one person can make a difference.  Why can't that person be you...or me?  We just have to be able to identify that a change needs to happen and then take a step towards making it happen.  We may end up needing someone else's help to gain momentum for our cause, but if we are passionate and truly believe in what we are advocating for, there will be others willing to help.  Others can help me by reminding me of those facts when I get discouraged or hit a roadblock and think I can't do any more.

Children who struggle

There are too many children that struggle in school.  Particularly, I'm talking about elementary school but I'm sure the problem crosses many grades and ages.  What are we doing to ensure that children don't fall through the cracks of education?  If there is limited time to teach each subject, how do we ensure that each child understands the material being presented? If they don't understand, are we offering additional help or resources for that child?  We can't focus only on the average children when creating our lesson plans.  We have to look at how to offer additional support and resources to those children that struggle and also provide activity extensions that will challenge those children who perform at a higher development level.  Some districts offer help to struggling students but often that help involves pulling children out of class to offer one-on-one or small group help.  When children are pulled out of the classroom during core lesson times, it can put these children even further behind.  I know districts are limited on resources but we have to find a solution that is more beneficial to these struggling children.