"Where did you get your shoes?"

I love my job. I really do. There is room to dream big about what we can do with education. Sometimes I get a little too idealistic about it, getting caught up in the idea of creating equity in education between over-resourced kids and those who live in under-resourced areas. But often, my idealism is backed up by the amazing things I get to do on a daily basis. Yesterday I took a group of students to a design firm as part of a 10-week class on product design. For every two students, there was one designer, helping them create a protoype using the same materials that these designers would use to make a prototype. The kids soared. Creativity oozed out of them.

I also hope that besides providing resources, the staff and I can be role models to the kids. I hope that the students notice when I write them notes to encourage them. And that my nagging them to do homework and talking to their teachers about their grades is all because I care about them doing well in school.

But then there are moments when I get a reality check. A few weeks ago I was teaching my sixth graders how to take notes. I stopped my lesson to check for understanding, and one student raised her hand. I got excited because she rarely participates and often tells me she doesn't want to be at Citizen Schools. Maybe this was the day my lesson would connect with her and her life would be changed! Ha.

I called on her, and she asked me, looking down at my feet, "Where do you get your shoes? I really like them."

Hmm. So she was taking mental notes. And I was being a model for her, just not the kind of model I was hoping to be.