Unofficially, I have been a teacher since the third grade. By that I mean I spent endless hours of my childhood in my room, playing ‘school’ by lining up my stuffed animals and keeping my sister captive while I took attendance. We would stand together and sing “O’ Canada”. Afterwards I would ‘teach’ a
lesson and then insist my sister or parents complete the work I had proudly created. With much anticipation, I marked her work (in red pen of course) and dismissed her for recess, essentially mirroring my recollections of the procedural experiences of my early school life.

Fortunately for me, during my subsequent years of schooling I had many wonderful, rich learning experiences that went well beyond morning attendance with caring, knowledgeable and passionate teachers and a family who had the personal resources to help shape my value for education and vision to become an educator.

Fast forward 40 years later…I am an educator with a continued love of learning
and teaching. I feel lucky to be able to do what I do each day!

Even early in my career I had a passion for trying to engage every student in my class. That vision has
never wavered. Still, my career has been a journey full of lessons learned. I spent countless evenings
planning lessons down to the smallest details often enlisting family members to help me create
materials for my classroom. Curriculum and planning were my primary focus.

But what about the students who challenged me the most in the classroom? Even with a caring attitude,
and a strong desire for my students to be successful I often did not think deeply about the reasons behind
the behaviors of these students and my responses to those actions. My actions were well intended at
the time; I did the best with what I knew.

Fast forward a bit. Now when I think about students, I intentionally think about the whole child and think not only about their academic needs but also their social emotional needs, the role of the physical environment and how each of these factors contribute to their well-being.

To emphasize my earlier point I was fortunate that my experiences both at home and at school were positive. My parents and other role models were instrumental in helping me to set and achieve my goals. I had many resources within my reach. I think more about those students who challenged me the most and the stress many of them carry with them. As a result of having the great fortune of working with colleagues in the Culture for Learning portfolio, I am now able to re-frame my responses when supporting the students that I am most challenged by.

Now I no longer think about the student who is having an emotional outburst, or the student who is
chronically late, the student who never completes homework, the student who sleeps through my
lesson as a student who is “giving ME a hard time” but rather as a student who is “having a hard time.” Rather than
focusing on what they need to do for me, I am committed to starting with, “How can I help?”

And even now, in my role as a Learning Supervisor, as I come in contact with colleagues or parents who might be having a bad day; as evidenced by a phone call, an email or a face to face interaction, I need to remember that they are not intentionally giving ME a hard time. but when it’s obvious someone IS having a hard time and hurting – that better response, I’m learning, always is “How can I help?” It really does make a difference.