on reinventing yourself.

Tilting his head back as the barely-there remnants of Purple Bag Doritos fall ever so swiftly from bag to mouth, my husband slides the next mystery box my way.  Two bottles of Pinot, a pound of sour patch kids and three hours later, we are ankle deep in a semi-productive storage closet cleaning.  

We dig through file box after photo pile, spending more time reminiscing than we do purging papers and expired insurance policies.  

What’s this?  

Oh, that’s my teaching portfolio.

Really? Let me, see!  

Haha, okay babe.  It’s like fifteen years old.  I mean, I’ve added to it, but it’s pretty outdated.  

Yeah, funny how all of these photos are circa pre-smartphones.  I wanna look though!

Peeling through clear plastic pages of certificates, student work and reference letters, Michael stumbled upon my teaching philosophy.  Buzz words from the 2000’s like, kinesthetic learning, differentiated instruction and guided reading splattered the page with a standard red appled ABC border.  

I'm actually surprised an Eminem or Nelly CD didn't fall out of the portfolio pocket. Or maybe a Will Ferrell comedy on DVD.

Snatching the portfolio, I recalled my twenty-two-year-old self.  My twenty-two-year-old teaching philosophy written with bright eyes.   Frankly, I probably cut and pasted it from a handful of exemplars presented in one of my education undergrad courses, but it was mostly mine! 

Teaching philosophies change,  kids change, teachers change...education changes over time.  

In 2004 my teaching philosophy wasn’t my own, but by 2005 it had developed, 2010 it refined and in recent years has evolved into a truer form of what I believe in my heart.

If the goal is to impact students and their impressionable young minds, then what do we prioritize?  How do we even know what’s most important anymore?  How do we do it in 180 days?

So much to choose from...so much to believe...so much to try..

Two weeks ago, in hopes of inspiring some good PD conversations around project-based learning, I asked my fellow ELA teachers to reflect on favorite teachers from their childhood.  

It turned out, that in a room of forty-five, there were very few commonalities.  The X Factor in this group, though, was that every one of the “favorites” made them feel special.

It made me think, do I make all of my kids feel special? I need to rethink this year.

In teaching, it’s not just about the restart button that comes with the new school year.

It’s about your ever-evolving self, getting a chance to try something new, a chance to impact kids using the good and bad memories of trial and error, innovative research, hard data and powerful inspirations to change their lives with more confidence than the year before.

The new school year can bring the new you.  Well, the new teacher-you.  With your refined pedagogical philosophies and fly and fresh wardrobe.   

Lord knows you can refine and refresh throughout the school year, but reinventing yourself in February for the same thirty students who met you in September, might be a tough sell.  

We may not own our own business, but we own our own classroom. Craft those 2017-2018 mission and vision statements with your gained wisdom and ever-developing understanding of what kids really need.  

For me, teaching philosophies have evolved into learning philosophies,  what will the end product be?  How do students learn? How will my students leave this year?  How will this year impact their lives down the road?

And in fifteen more years, I hope I get that same feeling I did, when my husband shoveled spicy Dorito crumbs into his face...daaamn...my educational beliefs have chaaanged!  

Power to the teacher.