Blog Post #9
Greatness Challenge~ Define what greatness in your current position and in your next, your dream position, entails. Write down the steps necessary for you to move toward your vision of greatness.
Welcome Blog Post
Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are, where you are from, what you teach and anything else you want to include!
In my current role, greatness looks like being consistent and showing up for my students every day. It means creating a classroom where students feel safe, supported, and motivated to work hard. I don’t think greatness is about being perfect, but about building relationships, being prepared, and showing a growth mindset.
ReplyDeleteIn my dream role, greatness would mean having a bigger impact outside my own classroom. I would like to support other teachers, help create a positive school culture, and stay connected to students. To accomplish that, I need to keep improving my practice, be more willing to step into leadership opportunities, and push myself to grow even when it’s uncomfortable.
Greatness in my current role would be that I create creative lessons, I create a classroom where every voice is heard and it is a safe space to take risks and challenges, I approach each day with enthusiasm, I notice things about each child, I support the teachers and administration by helping where I can, coming up with new ideas for school, supporting the new ideas or trying them to the best of my ability.
ReplyDeleteI am approaching retirement age so my dream of being a principal is over. I think my future role of greatness would be to have a more supportive role for the new administration coming in and the younger teachers. I could do this by noticing things about the teachers and staff around me. I could do this with little notes and things that I have noticed relating to their classrooms or other areas. Create a culture of inclusion on the staff and a more positive school culture. I could do this with organizing little fun staff things similar to teacher spirit days, or a chips and salsa get together after school. For the new administration coming in, I could be supportive of their ideas or give them constructive criticism if they need it. I could help them with the new technology and the ins and outs of our school day so they can better understand what is happening before implementing a bunch of change.
In the community, I can achieve my newfound greatness (preparing for retirement) by volunteering somewhere within the community like the food program that provides sacks for children in our school, or the clothing closet that provides clothing for less fortunate, or be a Big Sister to a child, or one of the other volunteer programs in town.
Like Maslow said, "Step forward in growth or step back into safety." I just want to grow no matter where I am.
I found greatness in my previous position as a classroom teacher in my ability to connect with students and set high standards they enjoyed meeting. I loved teaching and being creative with them, and I tried to instill a love of learning.
ReplyDeleteI now believe I am in my dream position as the STREAM coordinator. I enjoy teaching all students in grades K–5 and have a renewed passion for my work. I have learned so much from the students, and in turn I feel they are receiving a much better STREAM experience. I love hearing "Thank you for that fun lesson," and seeing their creativity when we build or learn something new.
I always strive for greatness in everything I do and that includes greatness as a teacher. Greatness as a 4th grade teacher is showing up everyday for my students and putting in the extra work to give them a positive learning environment. That starts with building trust, creating positive relationships, and clear and consistent classroom expectations. I am a firm believer that these few things are the foundation for learning and being a great teacher. Once these are established, then greatness looks like having lessons geared towards the needs of the students that will maximize their full potential and get them engaged. Being a great teacher also means being able to adapt and change to the needs of students instead of having them adapt and change to my own. I know I am not a great teacher just yet, but I know I can achieve greatness if I keep working towards greatness and grow as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what my “dream” position would be. I can envision myself being an elementary administrator as I am passionate about the success of all students and staff in the educational process. I can also envision myself being in a position that supports teachers and their journey to being great. No matter what my next “title” might be, I foresee it being a position that supports all teachers and students. To move my vision of greatness, I can start by simply being supportive of not only my students, but my co-teachers and their students. I can ask them if there is anything I can do to assist them throughout the day. I can get more involved and take initiative to step into leadership roles and take on challenges that will help me become great.
Greatness in my current position is the ability to make connections with students and parents. It's the ability to make students love school and want to come to school every day. It's the ability to make lessons engaging and exciting, so my students get excited about learning even if it is challenging. I need to continue to put in the time to look ahead at what I'll be teaching and find ways to make it exciting. I'm teaching a new curriculum this year and sometimes it's hard to figure out how to spice things up when you feel like you're in survival mode and flying by the seat of your pants on a day to day basis.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what my dream position is. I've had many opportunities to switch grade levels or positions and I've never really wanted to do it. I taught first grade for one year, and then switched over to being a second grade teacher. I've been a second grade teacher for 23 years now and I absolutely love this age. I love being in the classroom. I don't see myself moving to a different position in the near future.
Greatness Challenge~ Define what greatness in your current position and in your next, your dream position, entails. Write down the steps necessary for you to move toward your vision of greatness.
ReplyDeleteMy greatness in my current position is being organized and ready to teach my kids everyday. Being organized is something that I love and I think it helps the kids tremendously. My dream position would be teaching fully online to students remotely. I love the classroom but need a change and want to have a flexible schedule for my family. It might also involve subbing in my community. Some of the steps would be finding online jobs that fit my schedule and willing to take the chance of switching up my life.
I am all ready in my dream position! I think greatness is seeing growth in students everyday. My students and parents feeling like they are supported. My peers and fellow teachers feeling like I support and encourage them. Knowing that my admin trust me, do not have to micro-manage me and knowing they believe in me. Knowing that I have a good work life balance. Seeing my students feeling like they are in a safe place. Hearing my students telling me they love me. Knowing that I am making a difference in our youth for the future of our community. These are all what gives me the feeling of being successful and great.
ReplyDeleteI’m already in my dream position! I don’t see myself not being a classroom teacher! I enjoy having my own classroom and my own students! With that, I would love to stay in the same grade level and to get more confident and comfortable with that curriculum. I have been teaching for 3 years - 2 years in kindergarten and this year, this is my first year in first grade. I have had some movement in which makes me start over and learn all new standards. Meanwhile, the change has been positive and I’ve learned a lot, I would love to stay in the same grade level for many years to be concrete in the standards and to provide more fun learning opportunities for my students as I’ve more comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI think greatness in my position is being able to make impacting relationships with kids. We have mutual respect for each other and they are enthusiastic about the content I am teaching them. In addition, they learn life skills of cooperations, hard work, competitiveness, and healthy habits.
ReplyDeleteElementary P.E. is my dream job. I hope I get to teach PE for the next 25-30 years! I absolutely love it and I love the students that I teach. I love my small town and small school. To make my position even more great, I think it is my job to be a continuous learner and to keep my passion for P.E.
Greatness Challenge~ Define what greatness in your current position and in your next, your dream position, entails. Write down the steps necessary for you to move toward your vision of greatness.
ReplyDeleteGreatness in my current position is much like the one I had when I taught. I want to make those meaningful relationships with the kids and their parents/guardians. I want them to understand I am doing my best to help them and will encourage them to do their best. In my current job, as always I will show respect to its participants. I want to make sure I am fulfilling my obligation to the best of my ability.
My dream for the future is to retire and spend more time with my family. I want to collect as many memories as I can. I would love to share my talents with them. I have always worked so this could be quite a challenge. Most of all I want to appreciate every day I have with those I love and care about.
Greatness for me is seeing our programming impact students in real ways! I've worked in the same educational non-profit for twenty years and have worked my way up to Vice President of Student Impact. Greatness has looked different throughout the years, but just in the last few years we've added immersive, simulated programming. After dreaming about it for nearly two decades, we launched an immersive program earlier this month that will impact 5th and 6th grade students moving forward. It was an immense amount of work, but seeing it in action made it worth it! I'm in my dream position - but look forward to growing the depth of greatness by seeing the immersive experiences expand across the state of South Dakota. Building relationships with new districts and fostering the districts we've had long-standing partnerships with is key to that success. The steps I am taking to expand the greatness is inviting prospective districts, volunteers, and donors to see the experiences in action - and following up to further the conversation thereafter. I'm also obtaining teacher and student testimonials to help share the story to further the impact!
ReplyDeleteIn my current position, greatness means being the best mom I can be. Making sure my kids are fed, loved, and raised well are my top priorities. I need to make sure they get healthy, balanced meals. I want them to know and to feel that they are in a safe place where they are loved beyond words. I want them to come to faith in Christ and know what it looks like to live out their faith. I hope they grow up to be kind, respectful, and hard working.
ReplyDeleteWhen I go back to teaching, I hope that I can achieve greatness by coming every day with a passion to serve my students, to teach them well, and to love them. I hope that they will develop a love for learning and be engaged in the classroom. I will do this by showing energy and passion, by having meaningful conversations, and by listening well.
Greatness in my current position entails me to show up, be positive, be interested in students and staff in a genuine way. It is not easy, but it is simple (from Beth's Ted Talk) These are the things that matter the most. The adage is true: People will care about how much you know, when they know how much you care. Apathy is the killer of greatness. For my next chapter, when I retire, I will need to pause and reflect before storming off into a new thing. I will need to assess where I was before I can steer to where I want to be. I will have to fine tune my real goal and then stick to things that will aid me getting there and give zero time to whatever doesn't.
ReplyDeleteGreatness Challenge~ Define what greatness in your current position and in your next, your dream position, entails. Write down the steps necessary for you to move toward your vision of greatness
ReplyDeleteIn my current position, greatness means learning from this year to be even better the next. As I transitioned from Special Education to 1st grade this year, I often felt like I was just trying to keep my head above water. I felt rushed and found myself focusing more on the curriculum than on the students. I want to change that next year. While there are many layers to being 'great,' I believe that starting with reflection and a constant drive to improve is a wonderful beginning.
As a young teacher, I don’t yet know what my 'next' position entails or if I will stay in 1st grade until I retire. Regardless of what comes next, I want to focus on learning from my mistakes and moving forward with a smile each day. :)
Greatness, I want to teach about many different kinds of art and artists, and all the different things art can be to the artist, to the community and to themselves. I hope to motivate all students to do their best art, participate every day, and get their portfolio lined up so that they can submit art to competitions, art shows, art camps, possibly win scholarships to colleges, but mostly be amazed at the truly unique and wonderful artist person that they are. Part of this is to be true to myself as artist and person.
ReplyDelete