Full disclosure – after completing this video, sitting on it for a few hours, I completely intended to remake the video to include some thoughts I felt I hadn’t completely expressed initially. But as this is my first post on my journey to document FOR learning, I decided it would be inauthentic to redo my video without at least first posting the first draft to be able to see what changed.
So without further delay…here is my first vlog about an artifact that represents a turning point in my educational career.
What I forgot:
- I was not completely unsupported. I did have one incredible administrator who supported me and encouraged me to trust my instincts. She was then and continues to be a source of light for me, which was important as a new teacher and invaluable as I’ve continued my teaching career. Having people around you who are like-minded and help you grow is something we all deserve in our lives.
- Building relationships is extremely important. As a second language teacher, I only saw students for 40 minutes 3 times a week. Having the time to build those relationships was challenging if I chose to have those teaching moments as my only points of interaction with the students. This one on one time during lunch, spending time engaging in something that we were both passionate about, built a connection and developed a relationship between us.
2 Comments on Chapter 1
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Amazing that you had a chance to get through to him. Did you see a marked change in his behaviour?
I really did. And interestingly, I ended up teaching him again 3 years later in Language Arts and Social Studies, and it helped to have already developed a relationship with him. We started the year off in a completely different way than when he was in grade 4.