Our classrooms are like wheelbarrows. All of our students are passengers sitting in them. They deserve a ride to empowerment and success don’t you think?. This educational ride is not just exclusively for gifted learners or advanced students. It should be for all students. When I say all students, I mean students who are in special education, ESL/ELL, and in at risk situations.   

The road which we push our wheelbarrows full of students on is tough and challenging. There is no doubt that the road might get bumpy sometimes with challenging student behaviors but if our students were perfect they would not need us. Many of us teach students that come from violent and poor neighborhoods so they bring in their outside lives in to the classroom. For many teachers, this can be too much. However, the last thing we need to do is kick them off our wheelbarrows. 

In addition, there might be times when students won’t want to ride in your wheelbarrow but that’s ok. This doesn’t mean we don’t keep trying to offer them a ride. You just never know when you might be someone’s champion. Someone in our lives chose to carry us in their wheelbarrow despite some of the tough backgrounds we came from. I was one of those students growing up. The road for many of us wasn’t easy but we thrived and grew because someone believed in the struggle to keep pushing that beat up wheelbarrow to the promised land.

The wheelbarrow’s physical condition doesn’t matter. It could look rusty and worn out with no fancy bells and whistles. But, our relentless commitment to push it towards student achievement is what matters in the end. 

If you can read this, thank a teacher who was willing to carry you in their literacy wheelbarrow regardless of who you were and where you came from.