This I Believe

My school uses a web service for faculty goal setting, which my principal uses to guide semi-annual meetings with all Village School faculty.  In addition to our three to four goals for the year (more on that later), we are also to include...

• personal and professional accomplishments (the hardest one for me - suggestions welcome, y'all)
• five words which we use to describe ourselves (passionate, reflective, loving, justice-oriented, and driven)
• a personal narrative

The prompt for the narrative is to "give the reader insight as to what you believe, why you chose education, and where you are or where you aspire to be on your professional journey."  This is really only shared with Ms. W, but as I revised my statement from the 2013-2014 school year, I realized I wanted to share it here as well.

You all know just how much I love reflection, so here goes...
For years, I have found myself at my happiest when I am with children.  In high school, I came home from babysitting jobs beaming with delight.  Even in my deepest depressions, spending time with kids was one of the few things that could pull me out of it.  Spending my days with students is an immense privilege.  Building relationships with them and then using that camaraderie to establish a learning community fills my heart with unspeakable joy.
One of the things that I value most highly in my own educational philosophy is recognizing the whole child.  I strongly believe in taking time whenever possible to talk to my students as people, learning about their lives, their families, their likes and dislikes, their dreams and goals.  My favourite moments with students are often chatting or being silly during lunch or recess, and my genuine interest in their lives leads to an open and trusting relationship.  With this insight, I can be a better teacher to them academically, socially, and emotionally.  I want to empower my students to follow their passions, stand up for what is right, and make their voices heard.
As an educator, I am motivated by my constant desire for self-improvement, always wanting to do a little bit better than the time before.  Reflective practice was highly encouraged in my teacher preparation program, and it has become deeply ingrained in the way that I teach and live.  As I implement a lesson, I am constantly adapting and considering how I could do things differently next time to be more effective or engaging.  Teaching has also been very humbling for me and is helping me with my tendency toward perfectionism; the perfect is the enemy of the good, and in teaching, there is no "perfect."
I believe that learning is most effective when students feel safe in their learning environment and engaged by the subject material.  In my first full year of teaching, I felt that creating a safe environment with solid student-teacher relationships was a strength of mine.  Now as a specialist, I feel with more conviction than ever that the material needs to "grab students by their brains," so to speak.  I hope that "future me" will be a confident, loving, and passionate educator who is constantly open to learning new things from her students and colleagues alike.
I have no idea where my journey as a teacher will take me, but I am always looking to challenge myself.  In stepping into my role as VS drama specialist for this year, I am in completely uncharted territory.  I am creating a program for which I have never seen or experienced a model; I have no idea what an elementary drama classroom or program looks like other than the one my students and I are creating.  While that is in turns overwhelming, scary, and exhausting - it is also exhilarating.  I am so excited to collaborate with homeroom teachers, other arts specialists, and the MS/US drama program to lay the foundation for a truly dynamic program.  I hope to help students explore a mode of self-expression they had not known before; find or build a new confidence; and possibly discover a new passion.

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Currently reading:  From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
Current high:  four more school days until vacation, six days until Cebu!  I swear, we are going to paradise
Current low:  dwelling overmuch on a future over which I have only so much control