Learning

Today's post is brought to you by Jaimie Howe.

There are so many people that have inspired me over the course of my life and career.  I in no way would even be able to begin to show or express my gratitude to all of them.  So I’m going to go in a bit of a different direction and give thanks to the one “thing” that continues to inspire me through my career: LEARNING.  

Whether it is myself learning or watching someone else learn; either way, it’s inspiring.  Learning keeps me going, moving forward, and wanting to be better.  

As a classroom teacher of kindergarten and first grade, I always said that the reason why I loved to teach these grades was because of the growth the students made from the beginning of the year to the end.  These young kids’ brains are so malleable and to watch a student go from knowing zero letters to reading and writing sentences is amazing!  No matter how much stress came from handling the constant needs and behaviors of 5 and 6 year olds, the ability to watch these kids grow and learn was enough to keep me wanting to be better.

As a student and lifelong learner, I’ve always thrived on knowing anything and everything.  Learning something new and being able to bring it back and use it in a way that helps others is inspiring on its own.  

As a literacy coach, sometimes it’s hard to bring back that new learning and share it with your teachers.  Time gets in the way.  Many times resistance gets in the way.  But nonetheless, when you do find that someone who wants to be coached or grasps on to a piece of your knowledge, that’s inspiring.  

Learning keeps me afloat a midst any negativity, stress, or politics that may be happening within my life and career.  So my gratitude and thanks goes to the ability of all to learn and the ability to witness our children, students, and colleagues learning . . . thank you.