What Matters Most: A Poem for Teachers

Plan A. Plan B. Plan C. The world is in the middle of a Plan-demic. I wrote the poem What Matters Most below as a reminder that determining what to do is easier if we first determine what we believe. The new realities of the Pandemic require us to be grounded and rational, and yet our irrational imaginations are working overtime to innovate, recreate, readjust, and reinvent. During challenging times, when you feel a little lost, Poetry can be your compass needle’s North.

What Matters Most
A Poem for Teachers
 
If you believe that you can teach
and students can be taught,
let all you do be guided by
those two essential thoughts.
 
If you feel overwhelmed and lost,
with nothing up your sleeve,
before you ask, What shall I do?
ask, What do I believe?
 
And let your heart be guided by
these two repeated thoughts:
I believe that I can teach
and students can be taught.