See Every Student

This morning I was reading through my email and came across a message from one of my favorite bloggers, Permile Ripp.

Pernille's blog posts are always thought provoking.  She often says exactly what I am thinking, but am unable to put into words.

Today's post is about those students in our class whom we don't necessarily "see."  You know the ones.  The students who are probably self-motivated, well-behaved, and/or high achieving.  They don't cause trouble, get their work done, and don't demand much of your time.  They raise their hands, participate often, and could possible teach themselves if you would let them.

So I started thinking...Who are these students in my class?  What are their stories? What do they need from me that they are not getting?  Do they know I care about them?

Pernille has challenged her readers to see EVERY student in our classroom this week.  I am taking that challenge because I need to, because my students need me to -- every one of them.

I don't ever want there to be a day when any of my students look back at their time with me and felt like they were invisible.

Because every student matters.