Welcome to InspirED, a place to find inspiration in education. My name is Erin King, and I am a high school English teacher. This was a second career choice for me.
Although, I should have known all along that I wanted to be in education because I used to make my little sister and brother play school with me. Of course, I was the teacher and they had to do the school work. 😊
I decided to start a blog because I love being an educator and, more importantly, I enjoy coaching teachers. The education system in the United States is at some cross-roads. Meaning, we have been using similar methods and pedagogy at schools for a very long time, while finding ourselves with the need to make changes to keep up with the everchanging technology and the unknowns of future careers. There is a mix of fear and excitement, as leaders and teachers try to find the right tools to meet the demands and changes for our next generation. Because of this, I have seen two things happening: new teachers come in with great enthusiasm, but ill-prepared and veteran teachers are exhausted and feeling burnt out. I fall under the category of being excited about the changes and think that we can make changes for improvement, as long as there is support where needed.
Most people would say that students come first. I do believe in supporting our students and doing what is best for ALL students; however, I might beg to argue that teachers come first. Wait. Hear me out. The teacher is an extension to the student. We, teachers, spend the most time with students in the school building, on-line, and/or after school. If teachers don’t feel supported and don’t have the resources or tools to meet their students’ needs than we have lost a valuable asset. We all know what it is like to be in classroom where a teacher is always in a fowl mood or doesn’t seem to really teach anything. It was probably not the teachers fault. There could be a million reasons why that teacher was not meeting the standards. In the end, the students in that particular classroom missed out on being engaged and learning. We must support teachers, as well as ourselves, to make sure students can come first.
So, here we go. I hope to inspire you to find that love of teaching and learning. And, I know that we can learn from each other. I encourage you to share your thoughts after each blog and give us a little inspiration. You never know who might need that sparkle of hope or new idea. This is an exciting time to help mold young minds and create critical thinking. Don’t be afraid to find your passion in education again. I can’t wait to hear all about it.
See you Real Soon,
Erin
Join our inspirational community…
[fluentform id=”1″]