During my time as a program coordinator, I learned a lesson that has stuck with me ever since: school values don’t collapse in one dramatic moment, but rather erode one decision at a time.

During our staff meeting that afternoon, my colleagues and I learned our school had six new students who were Syrian refugees.

In my classroom, I focus on taking the time to intentionally and thoughtfully form positive and meaningful relationships with my students.

Teaching is a great responsibility. I teach English and believe that the ability to communicate, at a personal and societal level, is what builds strong communities and ensures ownership over one’s future. Thus, it’s important that we teachers spend a lot of time on our craft—deliberating the best ways to teach and make lessons fun, interactive, and relatable to students. Professional development thrives on discipline pedagogy and school departments meet to align goals and assignments and to discuss data assessment.

I avidly recall a second grade class that would excitedly huddle around my rocking chair for story time. Students scrambled around sliding chairs to the carpet where I read heartwarming and sometimes zany tales, they reminded me that story time was counted among the most meaningful and cherished moments of a child’s day. Story time is a child’s portal into endless worlds, kingdoms, and dimensions.

At McKenzie Towne School in Alberta, students are learning through touch, scent, and sound with the Indigenous Sensory Box Project.

As soon as I utter the words “writing assignment,” looks of panic appear on my students’ faces. Their hands shoot up like rockets and the questions immediately start.

My students needed to experience success. And they needed to see that their writing could impact a broader audience than the one held captive each day in their classroom.

When I first created the reading test, it was supposed to simply track student progress. But I quickly discovered that sharing the results of my personal tracking system with students has completely changed their engagement and motivation levels.