For Annie

“Your’e entirely bonkers, but I’ll tell you a secret – all the best people are.” – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Growing up, one of my all time favourite books to read was Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland. As a little girl, I can recall being completely and utterly captivated as page by page the world of Wonderland and all it’s characters vividly came to life. As an adult, not much has changed. The imaginary adventures of Alice as she ventures down the rabbit hole into a world of unknown marvels never fails to captivate my heart and mind. Only now, having garnered a few years of life experience, do I find myself introspectively reflecting on the many pearls of wisdom nestled amongst its pages.

As a teacher with a love for literature and creative writing, the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland serves as far more than just a story to spark imagination – it takes the phrase “reading between the lines” to new heights and inspires many an important life lesson. I would like to share with you some of these lessons as I have chosen to place them in the context of teaching and learning.

Lesson 1: Be Bonkers

Having had the blessing of being mentored over the last few years by one particularly “bonkers” type teacher, I have come to realize the power of these very words. To so many of her fellow colleagues and her beloved children whom she taught, she

was seen to be entirely bonkers but it was for this very reason that she grew to be completely and utterly loved and respected. The sheer courage to teach with creativity and passion, to push the boundaries and to challenge the thinking of her learners has left an ever lasting impression on me as a young teacher. Sometimes as teachers, we find ourselves so constrained by the demands of day to day admin, curriculum pressures and deadlines as well as the emotional ups and downs that come with the territory, that we are often afraid to take risks in our teaching. To ditch the textbook and to take learning outside. To stand on our tables and burst into song if it means captivating the hearts and minds of our learners in such a way that they hang on to your every word. To ditch the pen for clay and finger paint regardless of how old or young the kids you are teaching may be – that was this very “bonkers” teacher alright! Never afraid to speak her mind and stand up for what she felt was in the best interests of her kids, even if it meant ruffling a few feathers. Teaching out of the box became a way of life and a passion of hers which in the end, only served to strengthen the legacy she left behind in the lives of so many who were privileged enough to cross her path. She has taught me the value of embracing yourself as an educator , to teach with conviction, passion and confidence, and for that, I am all the better and all the wiser!

Lesson 2: We are not all the same

The movement of Inclusive Education serves to promote social justice and the full inclusion of all children, regardless of who they are, where they come from and how they may differ from the next. To many, this may seem like an ideal but the reality is that whether you are teaching within the realm of special education or mainstream education, no two children are alike. One of the most damaging and demeaning things we can ever to do our learners is to paint them all with the same brush – to fail to acknowledge their uniqueness and individuality. All too often, we are quick to label the “deviant”, “the slow “, “the have not” and the “hopeless” child rather than taking the time to enter that child’s reality and get to know them on an intimate level. I consider myself extremely blessed to be in a position where so many of my learners are living in a world of unique challenge which means that their reality is vastly different from mine. I say this because each and every day I am granted an opportunity to see them achieve, to rise above their reality and overcome challenges – some small and some big but challenges none the less. And as I come to learn about and understand their realities, I have slowly come to learn more about my own.

Lesson 3: Believe in the impossible

“What difference are you really able to make?” “We can’t fix our schools until we fix our society”, “It is impossible to reach every learner in your class”… Admittedly, as teachers we have all too often been on the receiving end of comments like these – sometimes we have even been the ones to make them. It is no secret that being a teacher in today’s day and age is no easy feat and the reality is that there are many challenges we find ourselves having to overcome on a daily basis – but what good is there is complaining about it all? The way I see it, the more time spent on complaining about all that we can’t do is time wasted on putting to practice all that we can and have the potential to do. It is a state of mind and ultimately, a personal choice – to let negativity cloud your judgement or to turn lemons into lemonade and inspire a generation of positive thinkers and leaders. I choose to believe in the impossible one child and one day at time.

So many people have said to me that 2016 was by far one of the most challenging years to date, myself included. As the end of 2016 drew near, I naturally found myself reflecting on all that I had endured and accomplished. Having completed my honours degree, coming to terms with the loss of my beloved grandmother and ending the year off happily engaged to the man of my dreams…2016 definitely had it’s fair share of ups and downs.

Professionally, I have climbed a mountain and can honestly say that this year has been the most enlightening, challenging yet joyous one of my teaching career. Knowing that I am fulfilling my vocation and am safely where God has placed me has sparked a fire and passion within my soul that I can feel has propelled me to be better, to strive for better and to better the learning experience of every child in my class. I have found happiness within the four walls of my classroom and have chosen to remain happy by continuing to put into practice some healthy habits I have picked up along the way, many of which have I come to learn over time and others of which I hope to become better at. As with any experience in life, reflection is key because unless you know where and how to improve, you are destined to keep experiencing the same frustrations year after year. Been there, done that, and it is exhausting and passion deflating. I may not be a perfect teacher, but at this point in my life, I am definitely a HAPPY one.

1. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF – FIND A BALANCE

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou

Over time, I have come to realize that the happier I made myself outside of the classroom, the happier I became inside of the classroom. Instead of spending every waking moment of my life marking, prepping, doing admin etc (much like every day of my first, second, third and even fourth year of teaching) I began making time for myself in the smallest and simplest of ways – going to gym classes, meeting friends, cooking myself supper and making sure I have enough for lunch the next day, quiet times and reading the word, not skipping Sunday evening church services with my friends, visiting my parents during the week etc. My life became wholesome and I started to feed my soul. In doing so, I  found that I didn’t mind doing all the marking and prepping as much and simply became smarter with my time. In order to make time for other aspects of my life, I needed to learn to utilize my time better and complete tasks in manageable chunks as opposed to obsessing over long periods of time. Along with this, I had to also come to accept that because I was no longer pouring all my time and energy into my teaching I wasn’t and still am not any less dedicated to my job. In fact, the happier and healthier outside of school I became, the more calm, focused and present I became in the classroom.

2. LEARN TO SAY NO

This is one habit I have yet to master as I am very much a people pleaser and it is not in my nature to easily say no but I know that there are times in my life, both personally and professionally when you just need to. As teachers, we tend to put our hand in far too many cookie jars because we feel it is what our job requires us to do. The danger in doing that is that you can very quickly go from enthusiastic and passionate to exhausted and deflated. Rather than spreading yourself too thin, try do do less things and focus on doing those well. In the end, teaching shouldn’t be about the quantity of things you do but rather the quality of the things you do.

3. DON’T STOP LEARNING

As with any profession, you can never know enough. You can always do more, be better, do better. Teaching is one such profession, the minute you feel you are not growing and not feeling fulfilled, take the plunge and move on to another challenge.Personally, 2017 will see me starting a whole new challenge as I begin my journey towards my Masters in Education, and I owe it all to the drastic move I made over a year ago. The decision to leave mainstream education and enter into remedial left me both challenged and amazed. There are so many different ways of doing things, methodologies, technologies to enhance and support ability, ideas for classroom management…be dynamic in your approach to teaching. Remain interested and keep it interesting for your yourself and your learners. I have come to learn that one of the greatest resources available to us as teachers is each other. Share ideas, share knowledge, collaborate and initiate.

4. NO TO NEGATIVITY

There are bound to be days where you just need to off load and let off some steam…we’ve all been there but be weary of becoming that grumpy, whinny and negative teacher, the one most tend to avoid when walking into the staff room. At the same time, avoid engaging in negative banter and energy within the school environment. You have control of how you choose to invest your energy, why do it negatively? Surround yourself with positivity and you will exude positivity…it’s infectious.

5. DON’T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY

You are only one person and you are not perfect. You have a role to play and a purpose to fulfill, do so with confidence and vigour. Embrace every moment in your classroom, the good and the bad. Learn from your mistakes and laugh along with your learners. You are human, don’t be afraid to let your guard down and allow your children to witness that you are not in fact an all together, emotionless robot. Delight in their joy, laugh together, build relationships and engage. The more you work with other human beings, the more human you should allow yourself to be.