I've noticed that often, as I've moved through life, when I've been open to change or growth or experience something comes along right when I most need it. So it was with my wife, I had decided to stop purposely seeking out someone to share my life with, and was rewarded with the woman who has helped me find purpose, given me 3 amazing children, and been my rock and strength when I felt I had no more.
I stopped forcibly seeking a career path, and discovered a hidden passion for education and teaching. I found a deep passion for my job as Academic Interventionist which has surprised me and left me gratified for the organic flow of life.
So to is it now: Over the last year I've been experiencing a journey of growth in my self-knowledge which has led me to the understanding that I can always strive to be a better person, a better father, a better teacher. No matter how good I may feel, there is always room to grow, to achieve higher levels of positivity and success.
Because of this desire for growth, I searched the AEA library for books which would help me find success in my job as Academic Interventionist; books which would help me inspire, motivate, and lead.
Because of this search I found and have begun reading "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. This has been a book "on my plate" for quite some time, but the time was never really right to read it...until now.
As I've begun reading this book I have come to some realizations: that contrary to my best intentions, I have "given up" on some students. Before, I would have reached out more to some of the most difficult students in an effort to get to know them better, to know the "why" that drives them to be difficult. It was one of these students who opened my eyes when he told me that I seemed to be more willing to talk last year and wasn't so focused on focusing them on their work.
Now, given the nature of my position, I was at first somewhat dismissive of this as an attempt to become off-task (which may have been part of it!); but I also reflected upon this idea as I began my reading...and I came upon the idea of P/PC or Production/Production Capability.
This idea, in brief, is the idea of finding balance in pushing for production (in this case, the student's work) and attending to the needs of production capability (student morale and relationship building). This passage truly struct a chord with me...resonating at the perfect time with a reflective look at myself and my practices as a teacher.
Hopefully, such self-analysis and reflection will help me to continue to grow and achieve success in helping my (OUR!) students push themselves to triumph in school and inspire prosperity outside of it.
