I don't ever mind being a beginner. I don't mind it if I learn things like I've never known them before - because, you see, we don't know everything and it doesn't really matter if we didn't as long as we decided to learn it as soon as we realized we needed to. I was trained in so many good ways by my Bachelor's degree in Family Life and Child Development. I learned how a child progresses in life, how families progress, how to help put a school together, how to develop a curriculum, how to make a mean omelette and how to design clothes and activities that will ignite imagination. I learned how children embarked into reading and writing. How they best learned (organized environment). How values played a big role in learning. As I started teaching English, I realized that all that I learned played a big role in who I was as a teacher and I let that be my safe place for a while. Design interesting activities for my children to be engaged and to learn. And then, standardized tests dawned on our school and our students getting good grades from the tests became more important than having an interesting learning environment. And I fell into the trap. Now, I'm trying to get myself and my kids out of this hamster wheel. If this means I need to start from the beginning again, I don't mind at all. I'll do what needs to be done so I can help students learn to love learning inside the classroom. I'll do what needs to be done so I can create spaces for them to explore and discover. I'll do what needs to be done - even if it means beginning again.
