Skip to main content

Why Am I An Educator? #SAVMP

This is such a heart filled question. How can I truly express this childhood passion? I know that for some people, being an educator is an important job that they pour their hearts into, but in the end it's "just a job". Once a colleague of mine told me that there is more to life than school and that this job is not who we are. I completely disagree with that. For me being an educator is a calling. This job is part of who I am. It is an honor and a privilege to work with children and teenagers on a daily basis.

I guess that I should be quoting some famous author, thinker, or innovator, about greatness in education, but I can't.  Three things come to mind: Ms. Lewis, my school experience and stewardship.

Ms. Lewis was my kindergarten teacher and one of the most extraordinary people that I have ever met. She ran our class with respect and dignity; she exposed us to the world in a creative manner, but most of all she loved and cared for the entire class. Ms. Lewis showed us all of this with a simple hug, help with an activity, or just a smile. We all loved her dearly. At the end of kindergarten I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to care for kids just as she did.

I watched the clock closely in the following 11 years. Elementary school and high school seemed to go on for an eternity. Being one of the few visual minorities in my elementary school, I never really fit in(from a racial perspective). Taunting and teasing appeared to be the norm. One of my French teachers contributed to the discrimination by calling on me as "Natasha mon petit chocolat". Then I went to high school, and it was more diverse, but I still did not fit in. I didn't want to be identified by my race so I forged a few close friendships. I kept wondering, what happened after kindergarten? Why wasn't learning as fun? What happens if your teacher is too strict? Or cannot control the class? At times it didn’t seem as if all of my teachers really cared about me. How could I inspire and guide students when it seems to go downhill after kindergarten? How could I show them that I care? A few of my teachers served as beacons of greatness. They managed to teach and inspire me, while ensuring that the mood in the classroom was light. Those teachers reminded me why I wanted to be a teacher and kept that flame within me burning.

Then I finally became an educator. I remembered that great teachers provided a safe place for students to grow and learn. Finding a balance between classroom management, facilitating learning, and forging relationships would be ideal. Meeting with students, their parents, and my colleagues has opened my eyes to so much. I realized that leading is about following, listening, and learning.

As an educator I would definitely consider myself a steward leader.  In Thomas J. Sergiovanni's article Leadership as Stewardship he quotes Mary Giella, saying "My role is one of facilitator. I listened to those who taught the children and those who were school leaders. I helped plan what they saw was a need. I coordinated the plan until those participating could independently conduct their own plans." This is the kind of leader that I strive to be.

Why did I become an educator? I wanted to be a game changer in the educational world. Someone who helps empower others to go forward in a responsible and positive manner.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Makes You Credible? #SAVMP

Why should I give you a chance? Can I rely on you? Why should I trust you? Have you ever felt like those questions were/are the unsaid or unheard 'elephant in the room'? Over the past 3 and a half years I have been on a journey to build credibility with my staff and colleagues. I entered the school not only as a new addition to the staff, but new to the position. It seemed like I would never get to a place where people could trust me or feel like I was able to help support the staff effectively. I have to say that this has been a difficult blog for me to write. I am not sure if I have figured out the formula for credibility. At this stage in my career I find myself reflecting on my practices weekly and wondering what areas need to change. With all the recent changes,  my credibility is definitely on my mind. The more articles I read and the more people I spoke to, made me realize that I need to hone in on specific areas if I want to grow in terms of my leadership. I ...
4 comments
Read more

Bringing Parents Into The Learning Process #SAVMP

I have to confess, upon receiving this blog challenge I resorted to research. There was a lot of literature about why parents should get involved. There were also suggestions given as to how you can get parents from middle-upper  class communities involved. Gaining parent involvement in a low socioeconomic community has always been a challenge for me (and my research did not result successfully in this area). I have been very fortunate to work with an incredible staff. Our staff continually forges relationships with the students and their parents. Keeping the lines of communication open through positive feedback and social media seems to have increased parental awareness of school information and activities. It is great to have parents commenting on facebook posts of activities in the school or even ask questions about school life. This has proven to be an open door to communication. In order to further forge relationships with parents we had to get creative. We invit...
4 comments
Read more

The Little Things are the Real Game Changers

This year I want to focus on enhancing my pedagogical development and learning how to encourage positive change within my school. Just like my first teaching post, I entered administration excited and feeling like I could help everyone all the time. Then, reality set in and I realized that I could only affect change with the students, teachers, and parents who wanted to accept my help. My second realization is that positive change (in terms of school climate) does not necessarily mean big impressive projects or initiatives. So I asked myself, what is the backbone of change? There are so many components that make effect change effective within a school. I narrowed down three that I thought that I could work on this year. 1. Consistency. This means no surprises. Staff, students, and parents should have a general idea of what decisions will be made based on their rights, responsibilities, and agreed on school guidelines. The  school community should expect me to be equi...
1 comment
Read more