We all need that one person in our corner who will kick us in gear to turn our day around or give us the pep talk to get us back on track. Some days we are that one person in our community of influence and other days we are in need of that person. Looking back at the 2020-2021 year, I believe that connection has become more important than ever to us all.
I know especially with transitioning out of the classroom and into a new role, I was in need of that connection. I left the classroom where I was very comfortable and able to see my impact on students and colleagues daily. As an instructional coach, I am alone in my role. I don’t have another instructional coach within my building to bounce ideas with. I had to learn how to reach out to coaches in different schools. I had to acknowledge I don’t know it all and I’m still learning. As educators, we tend to want to show strength and put on the front that everything is fine and we have it all under control.
I was a teacher for 16 years and never truly owned my talents. Teaching was always natural to me and making connections between the curriculum was my creative outlet. I was that teacher who would work with any team to create authentic experiences for students. I lived for connection and teamwork. Again, it was natural for me and I didn’t think of it as a gift or talent. Others teachers would say to me:
- “Crystal, you have such a gift with speaking to others without making them feel inadequate.”
- “You are able to bring to life education for each student. Each one feels heard, seen, and unique.”
- “Every student is included in your lessons no matter their abilities.”
- “You are so calm and bring peace when everything around us seems to be chaos.” (this one for sure makes me laugh because I feel like I joke so much to keep the calm when everything is anything but calm)
I am one who lives on building others up and showcasing their talents and best qualities. It has been an area of growth for me to receive compliments and own my own unique talents. Since I left the classroom for the 2020-2021 school year, I have grown to see the value of giving and receiving compliments and asking for constructive feedback. We cannot grow into our purpose with only compliments.
I am grateful for those who have gotten in my corner to give me the confidence boost to venture outside the comfort of the 4 walls of my classroom. I have sincere gratitude for those who commented, “Crystal is always sharing and doing things that are too much. How can she expect her kids to do that? It’s well above what they should be doing. That isn’t how it should be taught.” Those comments, while at the time were somewhat hurtful, reinforced my beliefs. My expectations were set high for my students. Sometimes growing requires taking risks. I never wanted my students to see any challenge as an obstacle that couldn’t be overcome. Meeting challenges help grow our self-confidence. My students learned they never needed to back down from something that seemed difficult or impossible. Even as an adult, I had to walk out this same belief.
through reflection.
How can you incorporate moments of gratitude in your daily routine?
I encourage teachers and their students to take time reflecting on moments of gratitude in order to create a habit of looking at the world with a grateful heart. In my classroom we tried to spend 5 minutes daily reflecting on something that had happened throughout the day that made us feel appreciated, connected, happy, loved, and the list could go on. When you look at this time as part of the educational experience, you loose the fear “do I have enough time to cover everything?” thoughts. It is more than worth the time to build this into your day. The habits formed with reflective gratitude set everyone up for a life-long journey in owning their individual story and having empathy for others.
Such a great read! Truly owning ones talents is such a hard thing. As educators it is difficult to shine while consecutively not outshining your team. It is easier to step into ones talents when you see what is at stake, the betterment of your students and in a coach’s case, their staff. When we all own our own talents we all truly win.
When we recognize our passions and talents, the possibilities for our schools are endless. Thank you for reading my post.