A Metamorphosis of Educational Proportions

Before this school year started, a colleague I respect asked me to attend a training session with him for a new grade book program our district was going to roll out.  Little did I know that my quick response was going to trigger a metamorphosis in me.

Before I go any further, let me provide you with a little background:  I have been a professional educator for the last seven years.  For the last six years I have taught freshmen and sophomore language arts.  I have always thought of myself as an educator who was able to get the job done with students, but I was light years behind most of my more experienced colleagues.

Fast forward to the grade book training:  After two days of training provided by the school district, we were on our own to answer teacher, student, parent and administration questions about this new program.  While I never considered myself a building leader of any kind, I was quickly thrust into a leadership position in regards to the new grade book.  My partner and I hosted numerous faculty and parent training sessions and helped colleagues building-wide troubleshoot grade book problems.  Somewhere along the line my interest in #edtech started to intensify.  My Twitter stream became less social and more professional and colleagues I always viewed as the veterans I asked for help started coming to me with questions about using technology in their classes. 

Today my district had its final professional development day of the year.  I hosted two sessions on blogging and online animation and found myself in a now-familiar position.  I presented information to my colleagues, facilitating a discussion about the concept of being a life long learner.  As soon this discussion began, I realized that a metamorphosis had occurred.  I wasn’t nervous about presenting information to my colleagues or asking them to think and discuss education-related topics like I used to be.  I realized that I am becoming one of the people in the building who can help teachers, both novice and veteran become better educators.  The best part of that equation is that every discussion I have, every problem I help someone with, helps me become a better teacher. 

While I will never shout from the rooftops that I have all the answers (or even a portion of them) to the problems that face teachers in my building, I am glad to know that I have grown as an educator and a person.  I have grown enough to be able to share with my colleagues (almost) as often as I borrow from them.  I have grown into the role of facilitator and information-sharer.  Maybe I have even inspired some of my colleagues to take a similar path in the future.

Hopefully this is a metamorphosis that continues.

Comments

  1. JP - I am glad to hear you are happy and embracing this metamorphosis! This journey has not always been easy, but I definitely think it's paying huge dividends. We have not yet reached the tipping point, but we are for sure making some great strides.

    Keep doing your thing and continue encouraging others to push themselves. Your leadership is definitely not going unnoticed, so keep up the great work!

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  2. Good for you! You should already know I'm proud of you, but still.. it's awesome to read about this in your words.

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  3. Tonya and Justin - Thanks for the comments and the opportunity to get involved with PD this year!

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