H is for "Humbled"
On a #Read2Lead Twitter chat last night, I answered a question to continue my work on this blog page. Today, I sit at my dining room table as my new office space "humbled" at the work our field has done over the past two weeks. The COVID-19 epidemic proved that our educators across our country can pull together, support the varied needs of our children and families, and share resources with one another so others can benefit.
I began this journey working through the cancelation of our students trip to Italy, I immediately made my recommendations to my leadership team and teachers. To my surprise, the parents and students humbled me by (although disappointed and frustrated with the travel company) expressing empathy towards our leadership team in making the decision to keep our students safe. Soon after, the COVID-19 wave quickly moved towards the U.S. and this is where the real inspiration humbled many.
When schools began closing, teachers immediately worked to innovate and maintain connections with our children and families, navigated the "red-tape" from the state and national government, provided food to children in need, took to social media to send messages to our children, set up video conferencing to stay in touch, and "we taught the kids anyway" (Rita Pierson). Our teachers humbled themselves during this difficult time to put other children first all while supporting their own families.
As an administrator, my work day went from taking to the office, walking school buildings connecting with students and teachers, building relationships, and making many decisions to taking to my dining room office and living on the computer. Change is expected in our field, but this was unprecedented.
Humbled, I then witnessed our non-technological teachers radically change direction in a few days. I set up our first video conference meeting for each department, sent videos, directions, and fingers-crossed this would not flop on its face! I logged on... and one of my least technological teachers started the virtual meeting early and was sharing how they were connecting with our students!!!! All four back-to-back meetings had perfect attendance minus two teachers, who were attending to family medical needs, and I received the greatest feed back; "Thank you so much for being so reassuring, comforting, calm, and informative. I feel so much better."
I was humbled to read this text message, I did not feel that I made a difference while running these meetings. I guess it takes me to the notion of "Its the small things that make a BIG difference." The small risk of running a video conference meeting, comforted my teachers to know that they were supported, and that made me realize the impact I have on their lives... That's humbling!!!
In the following week, I connected with educators in ways like never before and witnessed ingenious ways that teachers were connecting with our students and families regardless of the barriers. When we take a step back from all of this craziness, we will be proud of the work we had done, we will never be the same because of how quickly we had to adapt, and that should humble all of us as a nation.
I began this journey working through the cancelation of our students trip to Italy, I immediately made my recommendations to my leadership team and teachers. To my surprise, the parents and students humbled me by (although disappointed and frustrated with the travel company) expressing empathy towards our leadership team in making the decision to keep our students safe. Soon after, the COVID-19 wave quickly moved towards the U.S. and this is where the real inspiration humbled many.
When schools began closing, teachers immediately worked to innovate and maintain connections with our children and families, navigated the "red-tape" from the state and national government, provided food to children in need, took to social media to send messages to our children, set up video conferencing to stay in touch, and "we taught the kids anyway" (Rita Pierson). Our teachers humbled themselves during this difficult time to put other children first all while supporting their own families.
Link to post: https://twitter.com/RWottawa/status/1242163212621099010
As an administrator, my work day went from taking to the office, walking school buildings connecting with students and teachers, building relationships, and making many decisions to taking to my dining room office and living on the computer. Change is expected in our field, but this was unprecedented.
Humbled, I then witnessed our non-technological teachers radically change direction in a few days. I set up our first video conference meeting for each department, sent videos, directions, and fingers-crossed this would not flop on its face! I logged on... and one of my least technological teachers started the virtual meeting early and was sharing how they were connecting with our students!!!! All four back-to-back meetings had perfect attendance minus two teachers, who were attending to family medical needs, and I received the greatest feed back; "Thank you so much for being so reassuring, comforting, calm, and informative. I feel so much better."
I was humbled to read this text message, I did not feel that I made a difference while running these meetings. I guess it takes me to the notion of "Its the small things that make a BIG difference." The small risk of running a video conference meeting, comforted my teachers to know that they were supported, and that made me realize the impact I have on their lives... That's humbling!!!
In the following week, I connected with educators in ways like never before and witnessed ingenious ways that teachers were connecting with our students and families regardless of the barriers. When we take a step back from all of this craziness, we will be proud of the work we had done, we will never be the same because of how quickly we had to adapt, and that should humble all of us as a nation.
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