The video linked below was making the rounds on social media last weekend.  I’ll give you a minute to watch…or take as long as you want to watch it multiple times like I have. 

Ellen Alaverdyan

Never once during the times I watched this video did I think:  I wonder what her most recent STAR scores were?  Or if she needed Tier 2 or Tier 3 intervention.  How’d she do on the Benchmark or CFA? Or what her growth projections were for next school year.  Or if she did her homework first (pretty sure I know what she prioritizes outside of school).  What I wondered is how she found something that gives her so much joy at such a young age.  I wondered how many times she practiced those riffs.  And I wondered, although I think I know, what her parents must think and feel. 

In all that we are asked to do as professionals, let’s never forget who we do it for:  Kids.  Kids like Ellen.  Our “Ellens” may never remember the early modern European history we taught that was so important to us.  What I can guarantee, however, is that Ellen will never forget how she felt in our classrooms knowing that what was important to her was important to us.