The Empty Pot

A dear friend of mine shared the Children’s book called The Empty Pot by Demi, and presented an illustration that is important for all teachers to hear.  As the story goes the little boy who loves to garden is given a seed to plant and grow just like all the other children in the kingdom.  Ping dedicated his life to making the seed grow and tenderly cared for it day after day without seeing any results.  At times and in the end, he was discouraged and disheartened.  He knew he was a good gardener but he could not get the plant to grow.  After a year of the plant still not growing, Ping began to question his gardening skills and himself.  Ping presents his empty pot to the Emperor only to be rewarded with being Emperor himself.

Each day we are given seeds that we are to plant, nurture, and watch grow.  The problem is they do not grow or grow enough to meet the standards that are evaluating us as teachers.  Teachers walk through the halls of schools feeling defeated and disheartened, lacking the esteem needed to persevere.  The power behind this story is that you may not see the benefits or the rewards immediately or at all.  Even a year may past, but in the end whether or not you see the benefits, a life was touched.  The beauty of a child’s story is that they are NOT a “baked seed” and have the potential to grow and flourish.  It is vital to the success of students and schools that teachers take time to love and nurture students.  Maybe they need to be “planted in a new pot” meaning they are moved to a new seat or a different small group.  Maybe it means they need to be “watered” a little bit more with love from teachers.  Just because you do not see the growth in two or ten children, does not make you a bad teacher in the same way Ping was not a bad gardener.  My message is a simple one: when you invest in nurturing each seed with the utmost care, whether you see it or not, you will make a difference and be reward.  Defeated teachers: you will be rewarded for your efforts of care and nurture!  You ARE making a difference!  You ARE doing a good job!  Be the gardener you love being and keep fighting for EVERY ONE of your students!