Happy New Year everyone! It's great to be kicking off 2017 with another fantastic educator feature for you to enjoy. I came across Dean Vendramin on Twitter after I shared a post looking for new people to feature on the blog. I don't have the honor of knowing Dean personally, but after reading through his responses, he reminds me so much of myself. It is obvious he is a passionate educator who loves the work he does. I appreciated his honesty (especially admitting he has a bad sense of humour!) and his overall joy of learning. If you enjoyed what you read, make sure you let Dean know and connect with him as well! -Jam Dean Vendramin Twitter: @vendi55 Blog: deanvendramin.weebly.com Tell us who you are! How long have you been working in the education field? What school district are you in? My name is Dean Vendramin and I have been working in the field of education for 21 years. My school district is Regina Catholic Schools. What subject/ grade do you teach? I currently am an education leader and teach Math to grades 9-11. But I have taught many other classes including Social Studies and Communication Media (involves video, audio, web design, and graphic design). I also had a stint working in our district office as an educational technology coach and consultant which was great and I got to work with teachers from K-12. Who was your favourite teacher when you were a student? What made them stand out from the rest? In elementary school, it would have been Ms. Weisbroad because she challenged us, enjoyed what she did, and I felt she genuinely cared for us. In high school, it would have been Mr. Lundine because I really enjoyed his class and also he challenged us. Once there was an assignment we did where I had to pretend to be a teacher in a one room school house and he pulled me aside and said, “You looked natural up there! You would be a good teacher some day (which reaffirmed what I wanted to be even back then). What was learning like growing up for you? Easy, challenging? I was lucky that I was able to ‘get’ things fairly quickly when I was growing up and that’s why appreciated a challenge and also gave me a chance to help others ‘get’ it which is what I try to do to this day. What I love about being an educator is that teaching can happen anywhere, not just in a school classroom. I was really happy when my friend Doina applied because she is a bad mama jama when it comes to STEM. Her life revolves around her daughters and helping young women become leaders in a male dominated field. Every time I see Doina, she's either asking a question to feed her curiosity or has her arms open wide to embrace someone. She's a beautiful soul and I hope her honesty and passion resonates with you! - Jam Name: Doina Oncel Twitter: @hEr_VOLUTION Who are you? How long have you been working in the education field? My name is Doina Oncel. I grew up in Romania, a country with no possibility for dreaming a career back then. I always wanted to be a teacher or a lawyer and never thought possible that I would grow up to be both, kind of. I have been a childcare worker in the past for about three years. It was here where I knew that I still wanted to work with kids and youth but at different level. So, I became a social worker because child behaviour was a big interest of mine. From here I moved on to women’s rights because it made perfect sense to me that I knew what women go through since I am one and I have two daughters. I wanted to incorporate law and teaching to create change for women. I thought it was too late to go to law school and I never felt that the school system would offer this type of teaching so I created an organization that would incorporate both. I now teach young women how to become independent through entrepreneurship while navigating the male dominated fields of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) at hEr VOLUTION Innovative Education and Employment Services. Claire, Claire....CLAIRE.
I could write a blog post just on how AMAZING this woman is. Would you believe Claire and I have never met in person, yet I feel like she's my motivation coach who pumps me up every day? I believe I met Claire in a weekly Twitter Chat and was instantly drawn to her positive energy and her general love for everyone. Someone could express how frustrated they are with their progress and Claire, in 140 characters or less, made them feel like they could pitch their idea and make major profit. I admire her love for learning and her desire to help every student reach their potential so it is no surprise that I had to feature her on the blog. Thank you, Claire, for participating and I hope everyone who reads more about who you are, falls a little bit more in love with the work we do. Happy reading, Jam 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. 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. |
AuthorJam Gamble - Connector of People, Ideas and Energy Archives
April 2018
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