Hello world,

I’m back! I’m not going to dwell on the “it’s been a while since my last post” stuff because who knows? It might be a while until my next post. I won’t say I haven’t had the time to blog. I’ve been busy, sure. We all have. But frankly my head hasn’t been filled with educational musings for a while. Partly because of the new dude in my life (His name is Leif and he enjoys puppies and throwing his food on the floor), but also just because I started to get…bored by the whole “techie English teacher” persona I’d been wearing for the past seven years.

But I’ve had a year (and a bit) away from the teaching world (although I still taught a course online and wrote curriculum for eLearning Ontario), and my mind was mostly focused on new jargon like “baby-led-weaning” and “sleep training”. I think it was a good reset for my brain.

As I prepare to return to the classroom I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around leaving my tiny bff in daycare, because even though I know the daycare is full of kind, professional, highly trained people, they’re not me. They’re not the person who loves him and knows him better than anyone else in the world (other than my husband of course).

But that feeling is what’s going to make me a better teacher. Because now I see all my future students through the eyes of a parent. And I want to be the teacher that I would want my own son to have. I want to be a teacher who is  doggedly persistent when it comes to encouraging kids to reach their potential. I want to be the teacher who takes her professional development seriously. I want to be the teacher who has high standards for her students and makes them believe they can achieve those standards.

But more importantly I want to be the teacher who is patient and compassionate and treats each child with dignity and kindness, even when I’m tired or frustrated or even angry. Because that’s what I’d want for my son.

I know some incredible teachers who don’t have children of their own and they managed to figure this out long ago, but it took me a little longer to get here.

Wish me luck!