I see my job as creating a willingness in my students to accept that fact and then to face it. To be brave and to be willing to take steps into learning something new.

“You don’t know? Great! Let’s do something about that.”

As a teacher, and now as a parent, I have learned that the truth is that who I am and what I do is as much a force for learning as what I say. If I want the children under my care to be brave or to be a reader or to face their mistakes and see them as opportunities and on and on… Then I must be.

I now believe, too, that making positive connections with parents is of equal importance. That a child’s school experience is a part of their life but that it is not a separate part of their life. We, parents and teachers, guide them in skills that they will use daily for the their rest of their lives. To learn, to communicate and to be an active of the world. I like to say to parents that we shouldn’t just be thinking of this year, but the next and the next. What is the big picture? What can we do? What’s the next step?

In my life, I like a challenge as I like how it helps me focus. Recently, with a friend, I’ve been writing a haiku a day, I’ve managed to finally solve a Rubik’s cube and have been encouraged by my daughter to work on my skateboarding skills. As well, as I’ve got older, I am continuing to work on slowing down, focusing on the things that matter to me. Whether that is in my teaching or in my daily life. Considering what is most important and giving them all my energy.