No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of others. (Charles Dickens)

This has been on the back wall of my classroom for me to look at more than the kids, to remind me of one of the main reasons I went into education.

Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope and, crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring; those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. (Robert F. Kennedy)

This quotation reiterates my reasons for entering education as a career as well. It’s why teaching social responsibility is so important.

Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. (John Watson)

This one reminds me to consider others’ situations, both colleagues, students, and parents, even if I’m feeling far from kind (i.e., when I’m letting someone push my buttons).

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. (Henry David Thoreau)

This one reminds me to allow those “square pegs,” as many call them, in my classroom to flourish in their own way.

It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them. (Mark Twain)

For when someone else gets credit for your ideas. I think this quotation is becoming more important as technology changes, as the best way to improve education is to share ideas on the internet. Once good ideas are “out there,” it matters more that they are used; not who created them.