Creating Lollipop Moments

I am a TED addict. I try to limit myself to a video a day, but of course, that rarely happens. As I was researching leadership, I found this great video. It is a short one, a little over six minutes and time well spent! I found that I related to it on so many levels!

I became a teacher 13 years ago; my preschool teacher would claim I have been a teacher my whole life. She told my mom daily stories of me helping my peers, rounding up a group of kids and “teaching” them a task during recess, in general being bossy, but they also followed my direction without complaint. It was something that just always came naturally to me. I became a mom exactly 10 years ago. In an instant, the person I defined myself as for 26 years was gone and I was a mom. I had just finished my second year of teaching and was just becoming accustomed to being called a teacher. That was a role I had aspired to, relished even, this new role was one that I never imagined I would be. Those "natural" maternal instincts that all girls are supposedly born with never found their way into my genetic makeup. I never played with dolls or played house or dreamed of my future children, their names, etc. Luckily, I had roughly eight months to prepare for this new journey and I sought out advice and support from everyone, especially my sister, whose preschool aspiration was "to be a mom." The people around me became my village without even knowing it. They boosted my confidence and taught me the baby skills I was desperately lacking. (I still can't swaddle a baby, however, that skill just never sunk in.) When the day arrived, I greeted it with much anxiety, but also with confidence, not in my parenting skills but in my village that I had created to support me through this terrifying task ahead of me. Through these last ten years, I have had many lollipop moments as my village has supported me through the tears, terrifying moments, and days of celebration that come along with parenting.

I believe in many ways, teachers feel just as daunted to begin integrating technology and 21st century skills as I did about having a baby. Do we really know enough? How can I keep up with the ever-changing world of technology? What if the lesson doesn't work? What if the technology doesn't work? What if the Internet goes down? These fears have stopped a lot of great teachers from taking the first steps to transitioning to 21st century classroom. The fear stops us in our pursuit, makes us back track and rely on the comfort of what we already know how to do. As I begin my new role as an instructional coach, I hope to create many lollipop moments for teachers and help them to see that they had the ability all along, they just needed to trust it. I also need to remind myself that, though, this new role is very intimidating, especially in thinking of myself as a teacher leader. I, too, am surrounded by leaders that will help me to improve my skills and find lollipop moments. I am so excited to start working with this great group of teacher leaders!