Growing as a Teacher
How are you planning to grow as a teacher this year? Or are you planning to? One would hope so, but it’s so easy for a busy overwhelmed homeschooling mom to shuffle the cultivation of her own teaching skills off the priority list.
I should know.
I’ve lived the sense of “I’m too busy teaching to take time to get better at teaching!” for all of my homeschooling years.
Here’s the thing- isn’t teaching and mothering your children your primary vocation? Isn’t it your more-than-full-time job?
If you were teaching in a school, your administration would send you to in-service events, workshops, and conferences to help you build up your skills and get better at what you do.
Those who work for pay are given the time and tools they need to be trained and get better at their job- it’s not what happens when there is an overflow of time, it’s just built into the ordinary job description.
Why is homeschooling any different?
There are gads of resources out there to help us grow as the teachers and mothers that we so long to be in our homeschools.
I tend to collect a lot of books on education and let them collect dust, as if having them on my shelf will somehow cause them to leap into my mind and transform my teaching by some wonky form of osmosis.
It doesn’t work, that. Turns out I actually have to build the time and energy into my day to read books and be intentional about getting better at teaching.
This year, I’m creating a syllabus for my own personal reading. I’ve put enough reading on the schedule to keep me moving forward, but not so many that I can’t choose to read some serendipitous finds (as I love to do) as the year plays out.
Some are books on education, others aren’t- but all of them are there because I hope they will cultivate my intellect and help me grow as a person.
Hi Sarah!
First off, thank you for all you do. I taught HS English for 5 years. Now I’m a full time mom of two fabulous kids pursuing/discerning homeschooling. I’ve been flying through your book Teaching from Rest and I’ve already pre-ordered The Read Aloud Revival. Your podcast is fabulous as well.
Random Question: What’s your myers briggs personality type?
Ok, I know this seems weird to ask. But I’m an INTJ and there is a part of me that just thinks: Really? Kids? Little ones? At home, all the time? I know God is greater than our personality strengths and weaknesses, yet, I also know that you have to be realistic about your needs.
Would love your story!
I am building in a “teacher-workshop-day” once a month over here this year! Movies and playtime outisde for kids, and podcasts/reading/organizing for me.
And, one of the things I do every Sunday night, is to re-place my books….so shift my books to different reading locations and tidy-up my reading baskets.
I have LOVED my walking / podcast time these past few months since the baby was born in January….a great way to get back into shape and educate and motivate myself.
My weakness is loving to research educational ideas & philosophies too much, which leads to little actual TEACHING. Therefore, my goal to improve my teaching this year is to actually TEACH more, research less, and focus on the students. I hope that by paring down the books & blogs I’ll read over the fall to just a few, I’ll finally implement the best ideas I read & found last year (ahem). And, if I’m successful with this goal, I’m going to reward myself with a big Christmas delivery from Amazon! :)
Me too.
https://readaloudrevival.com/my-biggest-homeschooling-mistake-over/
:)
I love to read about education, but honestly sometimes it feels like it gets me more off track as I try to implement more new ideas. This year I want to do a better job of capturing in my planner some notes on how the lessons actually went, how they kids actually are doing at the moment, plus note those easy to forget tidbits about them as they are. I hope it will help me learn my kids better and to assess my year of teaching better as a result of being able to really get a sense of how my kids respond to my personal teaching.
I feel that way often too. That’s a really good idea.
I have been doing much this summer to try to drench my soul in what is true, good and beautiful and this has included much reading and listening to podcasts. I have found what Dr. Christopher Perrin, Cindy Rollins, Brandy and Sarah have to share truly inspirational! I took part in a webinar of Dr. Perrin’s last week and he was discussing trying to order your loves and your lives first before beginning the school year and that is what I am trying to do now. I have found things to be disordered the past year and am hoping that this will put things back in focus where they need to be :-) He has some amazing videos on YouTube that are very inspirational!
And Sarah, your reading list is quite intimidating!!!!! That would probably take me 5 years to accomplish!
It was SUPPOSED to have 10 (TEN!) titles on it. Then I kept adding. There’s pretty much no way I’ll get through the whole thing, don’t worry. It’s more like a menu to pick from at this point. :P
I have a hard time making time for personal reading during our school year though I realize how important it is to receive encouragement from great resources. This summer my educational reads were Leigh Bortins’ The Core and Sarah McKenzie’s Teaching From Rest, both of which I found incredibly helpful! I’ve started The Question but it’s slow going now that school has started. I do find that I can listen to audio talks while I shower or fold laundry so my focus shifts to those type of resources during the school year. I have LOVED the Read Aloud Revival podcasts and the audios that came with Teaching With Rest. I would love to find a few ladies who would like to read through a chapter or two of a set book each week and then discuss it online. Perhaps that accountability would help me to get it done? Is there any kind of group like this? I’m not even sure what type of forum would work best for this? Could you do a closed FB group?
I love participating in book discussions. I don’t think I’d do Facebook, even if the group was closed and private, but if another way works out, I’d be all in!
Last year I worked through The Teaching Company’s Great Courses on Ancient Egypt and How to Listen to and Understand Great Music. Both were fabulous! Our libary carries many more but I’ve been slacking off. This post has encouraged me to start watching again. The courses have done much in improving my own education and in inspiring me to be a better teacher.
I am in the same place, I have SO many books on education, various philosophies, and then there’s my own reading list that I want to get through, plus, I’m in college, so there are those readings… Many gather dust. I need to make myself a schedule, as well.
Recently, Brandy, I think, posted a little tidbit on mother’s education. I loved it and decided to put it into practice. It was about mother who was not in the best health and when asked how she managed to do everything she needed to do and read for herself, she said that the kept 3 books going at once–one heavier and more difficult, one medium, and one lighter and easier fiction. She picked up whichever one she felt up to at any given time. I can totally relate to the unpredictable energy levels and so I’ve instituted my own short stack of books.
My first pile is Six Great Ideas by Mortimer Adler, The Abolition of Man by CS Lewis, and Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry.
Those are the only plans I have as yet–to keep three books going all the time–but I am yearning to know more about mimetic and socratic teaching methods. I also plan to visit a local Charlotte Mason group to see nature study and other CM methods in practice. I need that.
Yes! Brandy’s mother education series helped me as well. I usually have three or more books going but now I have a sharper focus in the selection process: classic, science (like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), educational philosophy, soul nurturing and biography/memoir.
You have reminded me that Abolition of Man needs a spot in my to read list. I loved Hannah Coulter.
Reading my main mode of teacher training, along with some audio lectures. I am hoping to start a Charlotte Mason book club with a few friends, to help me finally get through Vol. 6 and maybe the rest of the series. I like the idea of having several books going in different categories. I usually have several going at a time anyway, but it would help to ensure variety in my reading habits.
I had the epiphany of further self study about a year or two ago. I created an entire Pinterest board for myself called Teacher In-Service Training where I pin books and audio/video lectures that I want to use to make myself a better teacher. I thought about how as a public school teacher I was expected to log XYZ amount of hours each year to show my continuing education. As a homeschool mom, I feel that I need that even MORE! I love the idea of creating a reading syllabus for myself through the year.
I am also part of a Facebook group that is currently reading through the classics as recommended in Susan Wise Bauer’s The Well-Educated Mind. It is going really well and preparing me (I hope!) to teach those to my kids in a few years.
Also I adore my Commonplace Book! I really need to do a blog post on that soon to show how I use it and what’s in it.
Right now, I’m just fitting in my own reading when I can…and I try to do that daily. :) I read through the first several chapters of The Well-Educated Mind earlier this week. And I’m working my way through Emma and the first five novels of The Wizard of Oz series.
Hopping over to Pinterest to look at your board. What a good idea, Chelli!
My friend and I are reading through the Charlotte Mason series together and getting together to discuss it. It has been so helpful to have someone else to read it with. It keeps me accountable, and we can talk about parts we aren’t sure about. When I tried it on my own, I never made it very far! Educational reading is definitely exercising the muscles in my brain!
Woah, I’d never even thought about having a reading program/curriculum type thing for myself. I suppose I’d start with learning to write beautifully. I have a fountain pen and beautiful paper, but honestly my cursive is worse than my 7 year old son’s! I also love languages and playing the piano but never find the time to actually study anything on my own. Thank you, Sarah, for this post and thank all you other ladies who are chiming in. Any suggestions for penmanship books or languages (particularly Polish) would be accepted gratefully.
I’m glad you said this because I have been trying to play the piano and to study a couple languages, in order to be a good model and to prepare myself to teach better, but it is still important to remember that it’s ok to do it for my own pleasure as well. If I am not enjoying it myself, then chances are not good that I’ll be able to convey much love of it to my kids!
I think Mystie is going to be working through a calligraphy book. Let’s see if she’ll tell us which one it is. :)
Yes, I have my calligraphy stack all set up and ready to do during quiet time next week: My artist sister gave me Calligraphy in 24 Hours (http://amzn.to/1l8wvK8) and I also have my mom’s old copy of Dubay’s (of Getty-Dubay italics) Calligraphy and Handwriting (http://amzn.to/1qh8r7V) and the Instruction Manual for the Getty-Dubay series (http://amzn.to/1speTZ6).
Because I can’t even learn handwriting without having three books first. ;) My sister also gave me a fountain pen (2 years ago!) and it scares me. But I’m going to get brave and try it out!
I do a lot of reading and studying on my own, but I think what I find most inspiring and encouraging is when I meet with my local moms group. We study educational philosophy and practice together, and then meet to chat about it. I always leave a better teacher and mom than when I arrived!
My favorite book in growing as a teacher and person is St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary.
Our Homeplace Wisdom meetings were a great way for me to grow as a teacher. Meeting with other teachers without our kids and sharing ideas, curriculum, methods, but mostly just sharing the common bond of our vocation, strengthens me and my friends. Now that I’m 500 miles away, we are doing a monthly skype and reading Danielle Bean’s newest book, Momnipotent together. So far, it’s great.
I also love homeschool conferences. They have such great speakers, but again, I love sitting among the other moms as we share those knowing glances and familiar conversations – surely I can do this if I’m among all of these seasoned superstars. Or even a conversation with a new teacher can build me up as a teacher as that is a form of teaching in itself for to describe what we do, we must know it cold.
I love reading the personality God gave your child – diving deeply into these ideas has made me a better teacher.
Mostly, I’m growing by stopping. Listening to my pregnant belly, looking into my kids eyes, walking all over town with my husband to grow our physical health, and waiting to grow too much as I know this is a baby year. I think the biggest lesson of this year is the patience to wait when I want to jump right in
One of my favorite things throughout the year is to go to a homeschooling conference. I’m practically giddy at 2 days of just learning from and listening to those who have gone before me. I also love to just peruse all the new games and books, and even if I don’t buy much, I always come away with a LOT more confidence and encouragement to start afresh, or maybe change things up in an area that wasn’t working.
I have read a lot of books about homeschooling, but haven’t really read any in awhile. I’m just now starting “Leadership Education” because two homeschooling bloggers I respect and read regularly have often recommended it as a worthwhile read.
Sarah M
This post is so timely. Why do I never think that growing myself as a teacher (and a woman, mother, person really) is vital to my ability to teach my children. I am constantly reading to do life better but never thought of it as a necessity to teaching. Wow. I love a lot of the ideas here. I have books that I’m reading but I’m now planning on putting them in a basket so they are all together and I can reach them easily. I worked through Sarah’s Teaching from Rest this summer and am still making my way through the audios. It’s quite a change for me but much needed. I am a checklist girl but I am learning to relax. Looking forward to Consider This to come out so I can dive into that as well. Wrote down a few books from this discussion I’m checking out too. Thanks everyone!
I am drinking up many sources as I begin my ‘first’ year homeschooling. My oldest is only 3.5, so we’re not getting super formal up in here, but he’s ready to start learning to read. I am reading Well-Trained Mind- someone said it stresses them out, I know what you mean- but tempered by frequent visits to your blog, Sarah, listening to Cindy Rollins Morning Time talk at one of the conventions, listening to the Read-Aloud Podcast, and reading Teaching From Rest. Also Pam’s Planning Your Year has been invaluable in getting me started. I also read and use Mommy, Teach Me and Mommy, Teach Me to Read by Barbara Curtis. I started using some of her activities last year with my very precocious and busy 2 year old.
A new thought occurred to me- I am constantly wanting to go back to school, I love taking college courses but have 3 babies 3 and under so its not in the cards. But how wonderful I get to learn and grow and stretch myself through this amazing God-given experience of being teacher/mother. A Well-Educated Mind is on my Christmas list so I can begin my own Great Books journey.
Thank goodness for Schole Sisters- I would be completely freaking out with anxiety and crazy schedules and my type A personality would ground out the joy of learning before we’d even begun. I am learning to focus on the human beings I am raising and who they will be, instead of what they will be.
Sarah
Yes, yes! Continuing self-education is so important as homeschool moms. The older my daughter gets the more I realize I don’t know and need to ‘study ahead’ so I can be actively engaged in our discussions.
To help me grow more as a teacher, I have spent this summer learning, thinking, and praying about the philosophy of classical education and how it will play out in our day to day lives, keeping in mind what Christopher Perrin says about understanding your philosophy first. Practices should flow from philosophy. I have greatly enjoyed and appreciated videos and articles from Classical Academic Press, The Circe Institute, and Sarah Mackensie’s blog, Amongst Lovely Things. I love their interpretation of classical education which has a much different feel from the way it was presented to me 17 years ago when I first started homeschooling. This new way (at least new to me) feels much more gentle and more concerned with the soul of the child and seems to have a Charlotte Mason feel to it. At least that’s how I see it. In addition to learning from those sources , I have recently read The Well-Trained Mind for the second time, which BTW, stressed me out both times. I’ve also reread certain chapters from Karen Andreola’s, A Charlotte Mason Companion, a long time favorite of mine, and I’m chomping at the bit to read Consider This.
Timely words for me. A friend of mine a little further ahead in homeschooling years, herself and her husband both former teachers, shared with me a small epiphany she had. She had been venting her frustration to her husband that her boys were such unwilling learners, when her husband gently suggested that she try to act more like their teacher and less like their mom. In other words, when she was teacher, she didn’t expect her students to pay attention to her just because she said to: rather, she worked hard to engage their attention, get to know them and their learning styles, build up her bag of tricks. As frazzled moms it’s easy to somewhat abuse the “I’m the mama, that’s why!” mantra. Certainly there is justice to that mantra, but education works best when it works with the attraction of the student to the subject. And I don’t believe there is a real dichotomy between mama and teacher, but I suppose trying harder to be a good teacher as such can only make me a better mama.
Cassidy- I had never thought of it like that before. What a revelation. So true.
Yes! Yes! Yes! I think Mystie has some excellent thoughts on seeing ourselves as mentors even more than teachers, but it follows along this same line of thinking. Teaching is an art. We have to work at it to engage our kids and provide a hearty feast.
I tend to get lazy and want the books and my firm mama-resolve to do the work for me, but my kids need someone worth imitating, and THAT is not what I want them to imitate. :)
What a wonderful lot of ideas! This year I’m setting out to study Latin with my son, and Math. I also working on a book list for myself. Setting time aside to contemplate our homeschool, pray for wisdom, and learning to teach from a state of rest are all ambitions for me this year.
I’ve got several books to read: Leisure the Basis of Culture, The Office of Assertion, Race and Culture, Life in a Medieval City. I also read quite a few articles and essays on websites/blogs. And I am trying to read more fiction.
But beyond all that I’m trying to develop my creativity. I’ve started writing “Morning Pages” (loosely based on Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way”), and I’m making plans for “Artist’s Dates” for both my kids and myself.
I’m feeling the need for less input and more output.
“I’m feeling the need for less input and more output.”
I love this! How well put. I think that’s why I miss stillness so much, because it is during moments of stillness that I have all of my brightest ideas. :D
Less input, more output! Said brilliantly, Kerry! Lizzie, I completely agree that my brightest ideas come to me during stillness. And, like you my stillness is easily missed :) Blessings Ladies!
Funny thing to get this post this morning. Just last night I committed to a book study using Laying Down the Rails, a CM book. I’m looking forward to my growth. And BTW I’m going to lead a book study on Teaching From Rest. Lots of interest in my neck of the woods.
Thanks Sarah for reminding us that in order to fill our children we need to fill ourselves first. :)
Christy,
Perhaps you can give me advise on leading a book study. I am thinking of starting one for the book, Consider This when it comes out. I have never even participated in a book discussion before, so I’m feeling hesitant and a little out of my comfort zone. Here are a few questions I have: How many women should I invite? Should we discuss chapter by chapter as we read or read the entire book first and then meet and discuss. How do you come up with questions or topics to discuss? Any other information you would like to offer would be appreciated, and anyone else with experience, please feel free to comment.
Thanks,
Sherry C.
Sherry,
Regarding book studies…..I think more the merrier, but the groups I’ve participated in average 8-10 women and some can’t come all the time. Remember the old rule of thumb that only 1/4 of the people you invite usually commit. Often I’ll open the book study to whoever is in a support group or co-op and then God sees to it we have the perfect group. Leave it in his hands. I would study the book chapter or section by chapter or section. Take bite size sections sometimes to be sure you can glean the important stuff from it and it also allows others to be able to accomplish the required reading before your meeting. Look over the book and divide into the number of meetings you’d like to schedule on the calendar. I would start discussions by offering one thing you found interesting or important and ask what others thought about that. Then give each one a chance to mention something else they gleaned. You can prepare questions or topics to hit but I think the most important thing is to moderate the discussion….being sure everyone can add comments. Be mindful of your time together. Pray, discuss, fellowship. You can’t go wrong with a book study. Enjoy the time together with like minded people and you will no doubt grow in wisdom and knowledge. Enjoy. It’s going to be a great year for book studies. Peace.
Christy,
Thank you for your advice and encouragement. That was exactly what I needed. :)
Well, that is all kinds of encouraging. :) Thank you, Christy!
I am not able to go to the many classical ed. conferences that I would like to so I bring the conferences to me via audio. I am so thankful that Society for Classical Learning offers some of their conference talks for free (they do offer the rest of their talks for a nominal yearly fee but for some reason it doesn’t work for me.) I have discovered some wonderful ideas on how to teach literature, rhetoric, math, etc. This year in Jenny Rallens’ talk on the Art of Memory, I was given some wonderful ideas on how to teach literature and I am planning to implement them in my teaching this year. Circe also offers their conference talks. A few months ago, they were offering their past conference talks for $25. I am looking forward to getting this year’s CD.
I also have started what I call ‘category reading.’ Being encouraged by Brandy’s post on Mother Culture and the ensuing comments, I came up with 6 different areas/topics that I wanted to read/learn about and I simultaneously read these books, a little bit at a time. These topics help me to become a better teacher.
Not only am I reading books to help me educate my children and myself but I am also reading books to help me theologically and spiritually which help me grow as a person and a teacher. I am currently reading Madeleine L’Engle’s book “A Rock That is Higher.” That book has given me so much to think about as to how to grow as a better person and mother.
I’ve been really enjoying audio resources online. Sarah MacKenzie’s blog has a great list and I’ve loved the audio resources that come with her book, “Teaching from Rest.” I’ve been plugging away at those and am excited to have just gotten started on the Society for Classical Learning talks online!
Listening to podcasts and going to Homeschool Conventions or “attending” webinars has been the best way for me to grow as a teacher this year. I need my mind renewed continually as to what education really is and what I am really called to do…otherwise I slip back into default settings that aren’t healthy or sustainable.
Podcasts and webinars here too! Though I reallyreallyreally look forward to going to some conferences next year. I miss those a lot.
Love these gentle nudges to plan a wee bit more about something so important. Bringing it to my consciousness- I will pray and think on this. Thank you!
I want to work more on keeping this year, so I’m trying to remember to use my commonplace book and nature journal.
I am also trying to seek out moments of quiet. I have made room for intentional reading and am doing fairly well there. But I long to write, and I can not seem to write without having felt still. This morning I woke quite early (because I realized in a panic that I had forgotten to turn the brooder light on over the newest batch of chicks!) and was able to simply gaze at the night sky for a while. What a rich moment!
Strangely, I think there are always moments of stillness in my days, I am just missing them. I want to…. find them. To notice them and use that time to consciously rest and talk to my Saviour and breathe in the quiet. I am such a kinder person when I do this. It is in these moments that I process what I’ve read, that I find thoughts worthy of keeping. How can I teach my children to be still if I have forgotten how?
So, that’s my struggle for this year. To find those moments and not rush through them.
I am just starting a commonplace book! I have been inspired by a few things I’ve read lately. I’d love more tips and ideas from Mamas about what a commonplace book looks like in our lives.
What kills the little moments most for me is my tendency to hop on social media or check my email “just for a second.” It FEELS like a good use of three minutes at the time, but I bet stillness and quiet would be better. Actually, I know it would be.
Amen to that!!
What a timely post! Just yesterday I organized the basket I use to hold the books I’m currently reading. I have some that I’d like to try to get to daily (I have 4 of these) and others that I’ll rotate through as I’m able (there are 6 of these, each in a different category). They are all books that will help me become a better teacher (I hope!)
One habit I’d like to cultivate more is that of writing down a little about what I’ve read after each reading. Sometimes I do, but I’d like to make it happen more often. I think I’d also like to start writing down impressions of our school days each day and look for what went well and what I’d like to work on more.
P.s. Is there a way to subscribe to the comments? I love to follow along with what everyone is saying, but sometimes it would help to get an email notification to remind me to come back and check.
Lisa!! Mystie just fixed it so that comments subscriptions are now enabled. Enjoy. :)
Yay! Thanks for letting me know! And thanks to Mystie for fixing it! :D
I should have asked this earlier. I just assumed that feature was not going to be part of this site to encourage us to look back periodically. This will be enormously helpful in staying in the conversation, as I always forget to check back. Thanks!
Yay! Thanks for offering the option to subscribe to comments!
What a great idea! I seem to have great intentions, with no plan. This should solve that…thanks!
Prayer! I have found that earnest prayer and God’s merciful response has made me a better teacher. He know perfectly what each of my children need, and how I need to be changed to meet those needs.
Yes. Thanks for the reminder. :)