Equitable Educator #observeme
Sometimes I am frustrated and overwhelmed with everything that is going on around me. I'm sure you can relate right? When these frustrations build up, I get a little emotional... and by a little emotional, what I really mean is that I turn into a bawling hot mess of ugly crying.
You see, I didn't always know that I wanted to be a teacher. I changed my mind a million times since I was in 7th grade. Originally wanting to be a veterinarian, I discovered I couldn't handle seeing animals in pain and decided to move on to something else. I return to this idea of not being able to handle seeing animals in pain, because I am realizing that for similar reasons I struggle in what I believe is my calling, education. I struggle to see not only the pain that some students suffer through each and every day because of variables outside of my control, but I also struggle because I want to help. I do not want to give up.
I recently read "20 Things That I Can Do to Be a More Equitable Educator" within the AVID Culturally Relevant Teaching text (pgs.289-291) and was reminded of many things, specifically my role as a social activist in the excerpt below:
You see, I didn't always know that I wanted to be a teacher. I changed my mind a million times since I was in 7th grade. Originally wanting to be a veterinarian, I discovered I couldn't handle seeing animals in pain and decided to move on to something else. I return to this idea of not being able to handle seeing animals in pain, because I am realizing that for similar reasons I struggle in what I believe is my calling, education. I struggle to see not only the pain that some students suffer through each and every day because of variables outside of my control, but I also struggle because I want to help. I do not want to give up.
I recently read "20 Things That I Can Do to Be a More Equitable Educator" within the AVID Culturally Relevant Teaching text (pgs.289-291) and was reminded of many things, specifically my role as a social activist in the excerpt below:
- "I will acknowledge my role as a social activist. My work changes lives, conferring upon me both tremendous power and tremendous responsibility. Even though I may not identify myself as a social activist, I know that the depth of my impact on society is profound, if only by the sheer number of lives that I touch. I must acknowledge and draw on that power and responsibility as a frame for guiding my efforts toward equity and social justice in my work."
- "I will invite critique from colleagues and accept it openly. I usually do well accepting feedback--until someone decides to offer me feedback. Though it's easy to become defensive in the face of critique, I will thank the person for their time and courage (knowing that it's not easy to critique a colleague). The worst possible scenario is for people to stop providing me with feedback, whether positive or negative."