A few weeks back, I read a great post about the reconstruction and refining of professional values as one grows and learns. This post and its many “pages” of comments led me to think about how I have changed as an educator-learner in the last four years, since I began my new journey in an independent school.
In no particular order, these things are newly important-refined important-or-reassured important to me as an educator-facilitator-learner.
- Teaching from a thematic perspective, so that all things can meet and connect around big ideas or topics
- It doesn’t matter if it’s “your job” or “your trash” or “your student”—if you are in the community, it is yours
- A mission driven approach is critical
- Criss-Cross Applesauce doesn’t help everyone learn
- Creation is messy and in our case, super noisy. but in the end it makes the learning so much stronger
- it’s ok to struggle, it’s ok to fail, it’s not ok not to learn
- ask lots of questions. lots. it’s ok if no one answers, even if it’s frustrating
- serving comes before receiving
- try something new, really try, and you can then truly decide if it works or if it doesn’t
- school is not about numbers, it is about kids. the numbers have a place, but the kids come first
- modeling oneself as a multi-faceted human is just as important as being a subject area expert
- kids are just plain awesome every single day
My future path as an educator is currently unclear, which is terribly disconcerting. However, these values are transitory and I’m happy to pack them in my shell and take them wherever the road may lead.
Teach2Connect 