Resilient and Resourced

Sheri notes how the pandemic is shaking up big systems like health-care, religious organizations and education. One example from education that she shares is how some students are flourishing with online learning so she hopes that the needs of these particular students will be addressed when things return to face-to-face learning.  

For new teachers, Sheri encourages them to recognize that this likely will be their hardest year ever and that they have a full career ahead of them.  She also notes that they will also be at the forefront of how education changes by having seen the way things were and how things can be better going forward. 

Spring of 2020 was a tough time for Sheri. She suffered the loss of her father-in-law, worked through a cancer diagnosis and had surgery on top of the stress of pivoting to supporting students as their Guidance Counsellor from a distance.  The fall brought radiation treatments and the stress of knowing how much work she was leaving for her colleagues. With the strong  encouragement of her supportive colleagues, Sheri took the leave of absence she needed to recover and returned to work in November feeling strong and ready to go.

Sheri expressed gratitude at so many points for the flexibility of the system to allow her to do  the healing she needed to do and the chance to stay connected with her students on the phone when face-to-face is not possible.   Besides her strength in communication, Sheri works hard to teach with her “heart forward” so that she can meet her students and all of their unique situations right with caring support.

As an Early Childhood Educator in a pandemic year, Melissa has been learning to keep the chaos of so many unknowns to herself and exude a calmness to support her young students.  This is important as working with toddlers is much different than it is with older students.  Toddlers may not have the language to express how they are feeling with all of the changes so keeping tuned into them is key for educators.  

Early pandemic was a challenge for Melissa who is a huge planner of the colour-coded calendar variety.  She has been inspired by friends who have been able to embrace the concept of leaving spaces in their calendars but admits that she’s not quite there yet. 

Melissa reflects on the Reggio Emilia approach from Italy that is more student-directed and where children are co-constructors of their own learning. For Melissa, this concept turned the tables on how children have traditionally learned.  For her, it brings learning alive for the teacher and student.  

Self-care helps Melissa prepare physically and mentally for what each day may bring and allows her to see challenges as opportunities.

Follow Melissa here  http://www.melissabowmanward9.ca/ or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/m2bowman. 

Blessed to have encountered many teachers who had a transformational impact on her, Maria recalls how two specific teachers inspired her towards a deeper sense of self-awareness, learning to trust in her body’s wisdom and encouraging her to become more attuned to her students as an educator.  In the spring of 2020, Maria adapted the teaching methods of her post-graduate course to make it more “gently rigorous” in light of how all of us were still working on coming to terms with the changes brought on by the pandemic. She was slated to teach in a Grade 7-8 school in September when she determined that being in the at-risk category with a health condition along with the unsafe plan put out by the government, it was in her best interest to not return.  Join in to hear Maria’s passion for education, student’s mental health and climate change as well as her view of what opportunities lie ahead in education when we look at it as an investment instead of a commodity.  You can connect with Maria Vamvallis on Linkedin and Twitter.

Back in September, Mary recalls how the anxiety around the social distancing and hygiene protocols, including the multiple layers of PPE, made it stressful to meet the students where they were at.  She says that “it was so hard to not be right beside the child!” and that the “kids need us to be right beside them”.  To ease the distance, Mary was conscious of using expressive eye contact and a positive tone of voice to bridge the distance between her and her students.

Teaching had always been a back-up plan after a senior high school math teacher suggested she’d be good at it.  But that suggestion stayed with Kathleen as she gravitated toward training and teaching roles in other jobs.  Her areas of strengths include adaptability and creativity to help students in ways that she hasn’t had to before.  She realizes now how challenging it is to see if a student is struggling in her class when she doesn’t have daily face-to-face contact with them. Going forward, Kathleen is committed to surrounding herself with human resources that include co-teachers, colleagues and therapy to stay healthy, resourced and kind to herself.  

After a decade out of the classroom, Gwen was unsure of what she’d be teaching until the week before classes started. The stress caused by the disorganized and constantly changing return-to-school plan had to be met head on with the calm resiliency that she has honed over the years.  Those years included teaching kindergarten to Gr 8 with a range of responsibilities as well as being in the library for the past decade.  Realizing her need to ask for help, Gwen has been reaching out to her colleagues and her family for support.  She urges new teachers to focus on the social-emotional aspect before curriculum, especially this year, to create a space where students of all capabilities will feel safe, welcome and who will want to come to school.

Derrick and Andrea are a study in contrasts!  One loves to have things planned out, one not so much.  One works in STEM and misses the regular interaction with colleagues while the other works in a congregated class with multiple EA’s in the classroom each day.  One works in a public board and one in an independent school.  Join us for this beautiful conversation about how pandemic teaching is impacting this family who is dedicated to the power of educators and of a solid education.

Linda‘s memorable mentor was an English teacher who challenged students with her incredibly high standards.  But the true inspiration for becoming an educator wasn’t necessarily this or other influential teachers.  This turned out to me Linda’s father was a school principal who also ran a family summer camp where Linda discovered her love of working with children.  In times of stress,  Linda’s support systems include remembering the basics of self-care and engaging with a gratitude accountability friend as a way to keep things in perspective.  Linda’s innovative mind has created two amazing initiatives, each “born out of frustration”, and they are a testament to her unwavering belief in a student-centred education system.  The PIVOT Plan and the @1every5 are interesting reads so listen to our conversation then dig in.

Lori loved school and is grateful for so many positive educators who cared deeply for students and made learning fun while excelling at teaching.  As she regularly deals with students and their trauma in her work, she realizes now that she also has to resource herself to continue to support those students in the school year ahead.  In the face of the student/ parent/ educator state of constant worry of the unknown in this pandemic time, there are resources to deal with all that anxiety and not let it take over. Lori suggests methods of increasing your happiness chemicals as we head into more unknowns ahead.  And she wisely reminds herself that worry is a misuse of your imagination! 

Kim recalls her Grade 10 French teacher treating her students like they truly mattered and that has stuck with her all these years.  As she works with the educators in her school now, she values her relationships with them and lets them know they are an important part of the team. 

She is a direct, well-organized educator who knows that this school year will take some extraordinary effort especially around staying connected with students and their families.  But she is optimistic about the future of education given her belief in the power of face-to-face learning and the long-lasting impact teachers can have in the life of their students.