What I Learnt This Year

Hard to believe that I have just completed my 21st year of teaching! 18th year of teaching internationally. I was only supposed to leave London for 2 years way back in 1997!

Just taking a moment here to reflect on my top three takeaways of the year. Have not planned what I am going to write, so it is going to be the top three things that come into my head… am just going to presume if they popped in there first they must be top of the list!

1. About me: I’m still learning. My thirst for learning seems to be unquenchable (is that a word?!). This year I finished my Master’s degree. Four years in the making, while working full time, and being a single parent. I’m extremely proud of myself for the achievements, particularly those of the last few years. Certificate of Educational Technology. Master’s of Science. And, most recently, I have been accepted as an Apple Distinguished Educator, Class of 2015. I am incredibly excited about the next chapter. The new world that has opened up. As soon as my final Master’s project was completed and submitted, I found myself thinking ‘what next?’. I cannot stop… and I love it. I have a list of education books that I am looking forward to reading over the summer holidays. I’m not sure why, but these days I just can’t get into ‘relaxing’ trashy, or even non-trashy, novels. I want to learn. FEED ME!

2. About being an educator: Trust, respect, and integrity are everything. True leaders are hard to come by. Leaders who inspire you and make you want to be better. I feel extremely grateful to have worked with some incredible leaders during my career. This year has been full of ups and downs, but the one thing that remains crystal clear to me is that trust and respect take time to earn. Trust and respect will never come if they are expected, or dictated. Trust and respect certainly cannot be bought. I admire those who stand up for what they believe in. Those who take the higher ground and do what is RIGHT. I can make parallels here with how students view their leaders, their teachers. Students will trust and respect the teachers who trust and respect them back. Students instinctively know which teachers truly care about them. Learners will naturally feel safer, take risks, and therefore learn better with these teachers. It is our job as their leaders to model integrity and empathy. We also need to model tolerance (as hard as it may be) for those who don’t understand the importance of the rapport between leader and learner.

3. About planning: Less really is more. This year I scaled back on the amount of ‘stuff’ I had to ‘cover’. Less about what I wanted them to learn, more about discovering concepts and what the students wanted to learn. Deeper learning. Conceptual learning. Not just ‘doing’ things. Allowing myself to drop everything and follow student inquiries. An amazing year, truly. I have always been an advocate for student voice, and this year confirmed how extremely important that is. My students were more engaged, more connected, and more relaxed. No rushing. Deliberate, meaningful discussions. Students engaging critical thinking skills and creating with much deeper understandings. PYP. UBD. PBL. Call it what you want. If students are involved in the process, they will take it further than you ever could have imagined. Less us, more them. 

Neat list! I like it.

I wonder what the next academic year will bring… see you in August!

Image: ‘21 Orlando‘ http://www.flickr.com/photos/39179985@N07/7696056432 Found on flickrcc.net

#experience #Reflecting #takeaway #teaching