Teaching is...

Teaching has been a way for me to connect with those around me. It has let me truly find the love of learning and help others to appreciate it. Teaching has respired the joy of learning for me.

I believe teaching is a new day every day where happy accidents occur that help mold minds to create world changers.

'What a child can do today with assistance, she will be able to do on her own tomorrow' - Lev S. Vygotsky

This belief has been recently developed over the course of these past semesters of student teaching. I went into this experience thinking I had to have the perfect lesson each time I taught. I realized there was such power in admitting that you did something wrong. The kids looked at me differently after I acknowledged that. They respected me more and for myself, it made me feel more human and less on a pedestal. Although one day may not have gone as well as you would've hoped, tomorrow is a new day. I want my students to not be discouraged if they don't master a skill or concept and to not give up. Who would I be if I didn't practice the same thing in teaching my lessons? If we hold ourselves to too high of an expectation, how can we focus and support our learners in the way that we need to? As teachers, I believe that we need to give ourselves some grace just as we do our students. To go off of what Lev Vygotsky said above, I believe that if we as teachers can be there to assist our learners we can help them to become the world changers that we know they are. In order to best support them though we need to learn out limits and understand we are human too. There is a beauty in making mistakes and as a teacher, I have found such a powerful moment to learn from those times. It is my job to inspire those to learn and remain faithful to my own beliefs.

These pictures show some of my favorite interactions over the past semesters of student teaching interacting with my world changers. These students have forgiven me more than I do myself. They let me come in each day and together we make mistakes. Instead of getting frustrated, I have learned to grow from them.

The second picture is the hopes and dreams of my Lab School kids. This to me shows how children are so capable to be world changers. To me, it shows how they are very intelligent thinkers and as teachers, we should be there to support them.