My Tenure as a Teacher

Here I go... Day 2!

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Day 2:

How long and in what capacities have you been in education?

     I feel like I have been in education since I was seven.  I used to have all my stuffed animals spread all over the floor in front of my little chalkboard, teaching them whatever it was that I taught them.  Back then, I thought that teaching meant wearing long floral skirts and writing with those double sided red and blue pens.  Oh how I longed for a grade book.  The picture above I drew in 5th Grade for an autobiography.  I suppose I thought I could be an artist, too.  That didn't happen.  Also, don't judge me because I save everything.  :)  I am a sentimental sap.

     I suppose my real teaching career began in 1999 when I graduated from the University of Illinois. I was a part of their year long program, so I had student taught in kindergarten, a 3/4 split, and then 2nd grade.  That was always the grade I wanted to teach, so imagine how happy I was when Berwyn hired me during spring break of my senior year to teach 2nd grade at Hiawatha!

     This is my 16th year teaching at Hiawatha.  I spent 14 of those years teaching 2nd grade, and I am now on my second year as a literacy coach.

     What capacities have I served?  Well, being in the same room for 14 years makes that list a little short.  Teacher.  But if I think of the roles I have had while teaching 2nd and as a literacy coach, here they are:

     I made teacher and Literacy Coach the largest, because those are my actual roles.

     I made mentor, National Board Certified, and CoTeacher the second largest in font, because those are the roles that I am most proud of as a teacher.  Those three things have made me the teacher I am today.  All the other things I listed are the opportunities I have had along the way.

Mentor

I have worked with +Marilyn McManus as a coordinator for the New Teacher Mentor Program for the last few years.  However, I have been a mentor in the district for probably ten or more years now.  Working with new teachers has really helped me not only clarify my own process as a teacher, but it also helped me learn that I learn from new teachers just as much (if not more) than they can learn from me.  

NBCT 2016

National Board Certification taught me the importance of reflection and assessment, always based on my students.  I always knew that, but didn't actually do it with fidelity until I went through the NBCT process.  That process turned on my ability to reflect, and I haven't figured out how to turn it off since.  :)

Co-Teacher

Being a co-teacher changed my perspective of not only how I collaborate with my fellow staff, but how I look at my students to see what they really need.   It changed my idea of what differentiation really is, and isn't.  It made me see things from a whole new perspective, of which I can't even begin to describe.  If you really want to hear my thoughts about it, invite +Amy Lazzeretti and I out to a cup of coffee.  We'll catch you up on why full inclusion is the only way to go.  :)

     What are you most proud of as a teacher?  Write a comment and let me know!