My hope is that someone walking into my classroom, or my office, would experience a multi-sensory invitation to be curious! Lamps and LED lights, wobble stools and wheely chairs along with ambient music give different people different ways to connect with their learning space and to feel comfortable and ready to participate in the day.

It's actually a really simple one. I had a student who had experienced a really difficult situation with a classmate and they were having a hard time processing the entire interaction. We spent some time talking through each part of what had happened to get a better understanding of how they were feeling and at the end of our chat the student said, "You know, Miss? You're really good at explaining things. My teacher at my old school never really explained these things to me." I will never forget that phrase and I will never underestimate what a little time and patience can mean to my students.

For me, it's definitely the opportunity to reshape a student's relationship with school and learning. When they know that we are as invested and interested in their success as they are, it changes everything.

I may be biased, as a French teacher, but I think that everyone should learn another language- even if it's just a few words! In a world where we are finding new and more efficient ways to travel to other places on our planet, we are very much global citizens and should look to expand the ways we can communicate with one another! I speak 3 languages and learned to speak, read and write Bosnian fluently in my twenties. It's never too late and it's always possible.