I chose the yellow brick road as my teaching metaphor. In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy sets off on the yellow brick road to reach the Emerald City in order to find her way home. On her way, she’s joined by the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, all of whom join her on the same road, but all of whom have different destinations in mind. The Scarecrow wants a brain, the Tin Man a heart, and the Lion courage. Like the yellow brick road, my classroom will be a pathway for my students to take. They’ll all have different destinations in mind, different goals they want to meet. There will be forks they might take, detours that lead them through different forests and then maybe back to the yellow road, or maybe off to a green one or a purple one. No matter the destination or the way in which they choose to travel, for a year or whatever length of time I have the privilege of teaching them, all my students will be on my yellow brick road and I will do everything I can to help them on their journey to their own Emerald City.
