One of the reasons why I love Twitter is because over the years, I've been connected to many leaders, organizations, and educators...like Kris. My colleague, Dina, introduced us I believe, and we've been Twitter buddies ever since. I knew Kris was someone I could vibe with when I interviewed him on my podcast last year. I loved his honesty and his humble spirit. I could feel it through Skype! So, when I launched this educator series, I knew Kris would help promote it, but probably wouldn't step up to the plate and be the first to volunteer. Thankfully, with very little convincing, Kris sent me his answers and I literally sat in my car thinking, "Wow...A LOT of people are going to identify with this." I really encourage you to take your time as you read this. There's so many gems you need to capture. --Jam Who are you? How long have you been working in the education field? What school district are you in? Who am I? That’s a question that humanity has been pondering long before I came about. In a less philosophical sense, I am Kris, Mr. Giere, Mr. G, Professor G-Ride, and a number of other names that students, friends, and family have chosen for me over the years. This is my 10th year in a classroom. Even though I am only part time as an adjunct with the Ivy Tech Community College system in Indiana currently, I still identify as an educator. What subject/ grade do you teach? I teach English courses, primarily writing courses, at the post-secondary level. I have taught literature, basic reading, and writing of all types: technical, creative, basic, academic, research, etc. Who was your favourite teacher when you were a student? What made them stand out from the rest? I wouldn’t know how to answer this question as I don’t really do favorite well anything. I have had numerous teachers leave an impact on my life over the years: my second grade teacher who assured my mother that I wasn’t doing anything wrong by wanting to help my peers with their assignments, my eighth grade math teacher who asked me to show him my process rather than mark my math homework incorrect because it varied from his answer key, my middle school principal that allowed me to do independent study with him instead of taking a course below my aptitude level, my ninth grade journalism teacher who taught me how to create with words in ways that I hadn’t tried before, my eleventh grade chemistry teacher who chose to appreciate my intelligence rather than harp on why I only did parts of the homework yet passed every exam with an A and offered me a place in her AP Chem class even though my B due to lacking homework grades in the prerequisite course, and my senior history teacher who enjoyed having tangential and curious discussions during his lectures and lamented that I wouldn’t need any more classes from him. After that there was my Psych 101 professor who put me on the path to being my authentic self by accepting me as I was and appreciating me without further expectations, my history professor who taught course material like an experience, my polyglot English professor who taught me that grammar wasn’t about being right but about creating meaning and connection, my anthropology professor whose courses inspired me to see education through the lens of humanity instead of content, my graduate mentor whose gruff nature turned most people off yet challenged me to defend my students and grade their assignments as extensions of themselves not simple artifacts to be dissected, or my thesis chair who was as much a drinking buddy and colleague as he was a teacher, mentor, and friend. Every one of them and many more touched me, shaped me, and are one of many factors as to why I am who I am today. Maybe I was blessed to have so many, maybe I was just lucky, but I know for sure that I cannot choose a favorite. What was learning like growing up for you? Easy, challenging? Learning for me was an endeavor of curiosity and exploration. School was an endeavor that teachers either made easier by connecting with me or more difficult by concerning themselves more with content and authority than growth and maturation. I can’t afford the costly testing but after in depth training with the Dyslexia Institute of Indiana, I’ve come to realize that much of my differences in how I learned growing up may have been due to an undiagnosed learning variation (I hate the term disorder). It may have been dyslexia, in fact I am convinced it was, but it may have been a myriad of other things instead or in addition to it. The fact of the matter is that through healthy (perseverance) and unhealthy (guilt & shame) means, I learned in spite of my struggles, and because I could assimilate with the dominate groups, I was afforded the benefit of the doubt nearly every time. Who or what inspired you to become an educator? I don’t really know the answer here. For me, it was a calling. I can’t find other definitions that fit it better than that. Dear Body, Forgive me for I have sinned. I started off on a good foot in September and before I knew it, I was slipping on my massage appointments, leaving the house without breakfast, and not making my morning juices. I have totally been neglecting you internally but certainly haven't forgotten how to go shopping and making sure I looked frr-resh on the outside. How many of you could write a similar letter to yourselves? I bet you're probably nodding along and chuckling because you can totally relate right?! Let's fix this shall we? With Christmas 2016 done and over, we can definitely squeeze in some time to self-care and start 2017 feeling rejuvenated. Here's 6 ideas for you to choose from! 1. Eat Properly| We are all guilty of this. We grab something through the drive through, we run on a measly banana and caffeine, or we just don't eat! This is your time to make that Pinterest inspired brunch at home! Set the table with some fresh flowers or candles, stay in your cozy PJs, and savour every bite. Your wellness really relies on what you're putting into your body. 2. Self-Reflect| "Hello, it's me"... I am huge on self-talk and self-reflecting. I'm pretty much saving a bundle on sessions with a psychiatrist because I am constantly asking myself, "Ok Jam, why do you feel this way?” Unfortunately, with all the noise in our lives, we often forget to take an adult time out and check in with ourselves. For some it's journaling and reading back on past pieces, for others it's meditation, and for people like me, it's playing Cold Play "Fix You" on repeat. 3. Volunteer for a hour| Giving back to our community does wonders for our emotional well-being. It allows us to stop and give thanks for what we have (because let's face it, sometimes we forget) and it also teaches us that love is meant to be shared. This is a tip I myself will definitely be trying more. 4. PURGE| I will admit that I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to clothes. I can't figure out for the life of me why I must keep everything! Purging has been known to have major therapeutic benefits because you are making more space both physically and emotionally. If you can't part with your favourite items, call in back up! Have someone help you sort or make the decision for you. Don't forget that you can always donate old items or sell them on sites like Kijiji or LetGo. 5. Make sure everything is ok| When was the last time you got blood work done, checked your blood pressure, or even got a physical? Did you squirm while you read this? That's probably a clear indication that you haven't gone to the doctor in a while. Sure, the saying goes "if it ain't broke don't fix it", but sometimes there's things we should be aware of that can't be seen with the human eye. There really is no harm in making sure all systems are good to go. 6. Sleep...and I mean for more than 5 hours| Unfortunately there are people in the industry that encourage the "hustle all day and all night AKA team NO SLEEP" attitude and I'm here to tell you that your body and your mind ain't got time for that. Your mind needs to recharge and your body needs to regulate. That only happens when we get sleep. Do you know what happens when you don't get enough sleep? Obvious answer is, you aren't performing as well as you should be. We all know the effects of lack of sleep so why do we it to ourselves? Have you heard of REM sleep? If you don't, click here and educate yourself on what proper sleep looks like. Normally, I would never qoute this guy but like Justin Bieber say's, "you should go and love yourself."
Seriously... Show yourself some love! We can't rely on others to make sure we're good to go; it starts with ourselves and how valuable we feel we are. I'm reminding you that we're are worth it and that your body/mind/soul is too... So take care of it! You've been gently warned. In honor of Warrior Mom, Brittany Brown, I wanted to share her episode on A Voice For All, where she explained what TN is and how she lives day to day while being an incredible Mom and wife to 3 beautiful children. Many of us don't have any idea what TN is (aka the suicide disease) so I really am asking you to watch and share this clip to create more awareness for everyone fighting TN every day. Cheering for you, Britt. Xo Each week I share an educator's journey into education. Since I started this project, I have fallen more in love with what I do every day in the classroom. It's refreshing to hear how others in the field, found their way into education and feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts and feelings. It's inspired me to dig deeper. I absolutely loved reading Amanda's responses. I really felt like I was sitting down with her at a café and seeing/hearing for myself, how proud she is to be inspiring minds daily. I have no doubt that you will be able to take away several lessons from Amanda and if you did, connect with her to let her know! -- Jam Name: Amanda Tétrault
Twitter: Amyrose484 Who are you? How long have you been working in the education field? What school district are you in? I am a mom, an educator, a coach and enjoy exercise. I have been teaching since 1998, so a career that spans 2 centuries;) I am in the largest school division in Winnipeg, the Winnipeg 1 School Division. Unlike other jurisdictions, we have something like 28 school divisions in Manitoba, and 6 divisions in Winnipeg alone. What subject/ grade do you teach? I am the only SERT (special education resource teacher) in a grade 7/8 school of a population of about 500 students. It is a dual track school, French Immersion and English tracts. I also coach 3 school water polo teams. Who was your favourite teacher when you were a student? What made them stand out from the rest? I would say it was Mr. Williscroft – my grade 10 and 11 English teacher. I liked his sense of humour and I was very successful in his class. It seems the better I did in a class, the more I liked that teacher. What was learning like growing up for you? Easy, challenging? As an adult I was diagnosed with ADHD, so even though I think I was fairly bright, my lack of focus may have impacted my ability to succeed. I only found what I would consider pretty good success while working on my 3rd degree in university – by then I had figured out how to self-regulate better and what I needed to do to maintain focus. Any maybe I just matured a bit by then too! Who or what inspired you to become an educator? Interestingly enough, when I did that old career aptitude test on a huge computer in grade 10 or 11 and the results were printed off on a dot matrix printer, it came up as either a “teacher of exceptional students” or working with “geriatrics”. I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and went as far as to apply to the city police and RCMP, but then ended up volunteering in an inner city grade 1 classroom with an amazing teacher for 2 days a week over an entire school year, and I was hooked. Describe what your dream classroom would look like. It’s hard to describe because I don’t think it exists anywhere. I understand with our current curricula it is near impossible to allow for my vision, a place with many unique qualities. It would first be very placed-based learning with opportunities to be outside and more connected to nature. It would also focus on industrial arts and home economics classes where students would learn some basic skills such as cooking healthy, fixing things that may break in their own homes and building and designing aesthetically pleasing things as well as for practical purposes. Finally, the topics would be fully integrated throughout the curricula as to see that the subjects are not just stand-alone silos. Hands-on opportunities are key for students who are kinaesthetic learners. When I was in high school I really wanted to take an automotive class but it was only offered as a program, and everyone knew that “those guys in auto” were not able to cut in in a regular program and since I was headed to university, I wasn’t provided an opportunity to learn what was interesting to me at the time. Tell us about a challenging moment you’ve faced in the classroom. How did you deal with it? There have been many challenging moments, but I think generally a thing that stood out to me was a group I taught science to a few years ago. They were extremely disruptive and it was frustrating as a teacher to get a through a lesson. Even though I was very experienced, I myself had to go back to the drawing board and revamp my classroom managements strategies to ensure the learning of all students in my class. It was important to realize that we need to reinvent our style depending on the group of students in front of us as it doesn’t always work for all, all of the time. What gets you pumped up before entering the classroom? (ex. music, car dance party, coffee?) It seems kind of silly but I don’t need to get pumped up before heading to work. I love my job and as much as I love a good car dance party, I just come to school looking forward to the day! What makes you a great educator? (Come on, toot your horn!) That’s a hard question. I would say that because I love my job, it shows through. I care about the students and they know that. When I was in the classroom I tried to make my lessons engaging and my assessments varied. I would allow for choice and would also promote using a variety of intelligences to demonstrate understanding. I really tried to focus on student-first instruction to keep them engaged in the lessons. If your students could describe you, what would they say? This was easy – I just went and asked them! Here are a few points that came from some of the students I work with on a regular basis: E (autism) – listens well, can calm kids down easily, very good coach, very nice but scary sometimes (at practice when kids are fooling around) Z (behaviour) – funny, tough R (FASD) – nice, beautiful (awe), athletic D (behaviour) friendly, very caring, forgiving L (autism) – nice, helpful *I especially loved how Amanda asked her students!* What was your best teaching moment? Hard to narrow down to just one. I think that overall, when I have students coming back to visit me that I worked with, either from high school or beyond, to tell me that I made a difference in their life, that is so powerful. You don’t always see the seed you have planted at such an influential time, but if they come back to share their feelings (and often successes), that makes my heart sing. What do you do to enhance your personal learning? I read, but not all the time. Sometimes I throw in a pleasure book to break up the “learning”. I do use social media to read about ideas and activities such as different Facebook groups or following someone like-minded on Twitter (like Jam!) How do you balance your personal life from your teaching life? I try to make time for me. Both my husband and I value exercise so we take turns getting out to help us keep balance. I go to the gym about 2 times a week in the morning and yoga on Friday nights (my big night out!). He goes and plays squash with his friends a couple of times a week and volleyball once a week, depending on his shift work that week. If it isn’t planned, it is very hard to maintain. Do you do enough to maintain your personal wellbeing? I am very lucky to have time to “take care of me”, so I can’t complain. I try to kill 2 birds with one stone by exercising during my wellbeing time as opposed to going out for drinks or other things like that (although that happens on occasion). Have you ever experienced burnout? What/who helped you cope? I haven’t burned out but I have been down. I think having good friends who are both educators and non-educators to talk to and get fresh ideas and perspectives is important. A support network in the school is also key and of course, supportive administrators are helpful. What do you love most about teaching? I always say that working in a middle school or junior high is never boring. We never know what might happen that day, and the kids really keep things fresh. And every once and a while you see such an amazing thing out of these hormone-filled creatures that brings you to tears (happy tears!). If you could talk to your younger self (ex. elementary student, high school student, post-secondary) what would you say? A little bit of work actually goes a long way and organization is key! There may be teachers reading this who are in need of a reminder why they’re great educators. What would you say to help lift their spirits? If you truly care about your students it will shine through all of the “other stuff”. Often it is less about what you are teaching and more about who you are teaching. FAAANNN GIRLLL moment! ❤️❤️❤️ Last week at #Autism2016, I ran into Sam just before he was sitting on a panel to talk about employment and people with Autism. I haven't seen Sam since his new found fame and honestly, he's the same humble and incredibly charming guy I met 3 years ago at Drama Way. If you enjoyed this interview, don't forget to share it and if you want to see more of Mr. Forbes, do not fear, he'll definitely be making an appearance very soon! |
AuthorJam Gamble - Connector of People, Ideas and Energy Archives
April 2018
Categories
All
|