From time to time we will blog about topics close to our heart. Today I'd like to share my personal thoughts on how mentoring impacted my life.
I knew I wanted to be a teacher since the first grade. Mrs. Makekau, with her engaging teaching style and warm heart captivated me. Being the daughter of two educators was also a strong influence. From the moment I began telling the world that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up, different mentors began molding me into the educator that I am today.
My mom and dad would be my first Mentors in education. I would often go to my mom and dad's schools and absorb the culture. As I grew older I would have conversations with them about my philosophy of education. I remember one such conversation that I had with my dad about grades and how they hurt kids' learning. It was long before I was in the classroom and my Dad told me that I needed to remember the conversation when I had my own classroom. When we began standards-based grading and I read Ken O'Connors work for the first time it brought me back to that talk with my dad.
My mom would set up classroom visitations for me and I would sit in her friends' classrooms. I learned a lot from these visits and would file what I learned in my head and heart in hopes of one day being a great teacher. I remember Sheri's kindergarten class where the 5 year olds were reading picture books to one another and Sha's class where she had an amazing rapport with the 6th graders. In all of those visits I always vowed that I wanted join the "family business " and be a teacher like so-and-so some day....
Before I began teaching I was lucky to have to teachers in high school whose different teaching styles also influenced my own style. Mr. Greenhill exhibited a true love for teaching and his students. He took a genuine interest in our lives and connected to us in ways that made us think of him as more than a teacher. Years after I graduated from high school he surprised me at one of my college soccer games in Washington because he had heard that I was playing. I was stunned!! Talk about going beyond the call of duty!!! Today my former students who are now adults themselves thank me for attending their football, soccer, and basketball games when they were in elementary school.
Another teacher, Mr. Masunaga exhibited a true love of Mathematics. Prior to his Geometry class in 10th grade I struggled with Math, in fact I HATED math. However, he made math fun, applicable to life and amazingly EASY! I went from barely passing to getting an A! He brought in manipulatives, games, showed us mathematical equations in art and real life and suddenly I actually had confidence in my mathematical ability. Years after I graduated from high school I brought my third grade class to a Hawaii Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference to hear him speak about Tesselations. I'm not sure who was more excited--my students, or I. I ran into Mr. Masunaga at a reunion last night and told him about my new job. True to form he and I began talking about how he could help me mentor our new Mathematics Teachers. We'll be setting up a meeting soon. I am so excited!!!
When I began my teacher education coursework I was blessed with amazing professors. To name a few: Royal Fruehling, Kathy Au, Margie Maaka, Julie Kaomea, and Joe Zilliox. These professors shaped my thoughts on curriculum and instruction as well as issues such as empowerment and ownership in education. To this day I contact them when I have issues that I need help with. They give me great feedback and guide me to make choices that affect my students and colleagues positively. They served as role models that I aspired to be like and they showed me that teaching wasn't just a job, it truly was a profession and that educated teachers who were up to date on issues, studies, and curriculum, as well as educators who collaborated with others and continued to learn and grow would become the best of the best.
I was also blessed with two amazing cooperating teachers. Lani Carson at Miliani Uka and Judy Cramer at Kamehameha Schools. I would say that more than 50% of the routines and rituals that I implemented in my classrooms were learned from these two amazing teachers: Friday Folders, Student Portfolios and Conferences, Tribes...I know I am blessed to have been able to work with two fantastic teachers who mentored and coached me with honesty and love while empowering me by giving me autonomy in their classrooms. By allowing me to take risks without fear they enabled me to fly early on in my career.
I have a number of colleagues who have also served as mentors in my teaching career. I think of Linda Uehara, Clayton Kaninau, and John O'Brien who inspired me in different capacities but always through skilled teaching and strong leadership. I loved to watch Clayton and Linda teach. They were always very deliberate in their teaching to maximize student learning. I would always try and copy what they did after observing a lesson. John O'Brien and I would talk for hours about data analysis and educational reform. He was a good advisor to me in helping me with my career choices. I made him a promise that I would pursue my doctoral degree some day...and I know I need to get on that because I wouldn't want to let him down.
Pat Lopes was a supervisor in the College of Education and she was one of the first people to make me think that I had potential to be an educational leader. She saw something in me and pushed me to hold seminars for pre-service teachers and eventually, along with Kathy Au, to teach at the college level. She was strict and old school--no lesson plans no teach and was the epitome of tough love. And her tough love got results because she loved and believed in us. I mirrored her tough love when I taught fifth graders. We lost a great educator in her.
Finally, probably the biggest influence in my teaching career and the one who has mentored me in my different roles throughout my career is Kathy Au. She has guided me as a student, as a teacher and as a resource teacher. She leads by example and through action. She has helped me become the thoughtful, confident educator that I am today. Her quiet leadership inspires me and makes me always want to do the right thing no matter how difficult. Just the idea of having someone so brilliant and esteemed believe in me has carried me to places I never thought I'd see!!!!
So, with this post I thank you to all of you who have coached and mentored me so that I am where I am today. As I begin this chapter in my career I am excited to meet new people, learn, grow, and find other colleagues who will serve as mentors. This year I also hope to become a mentor who inspires!!!!
Now tell me, who were your mentors?
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