When we talk about our teaching context, we often forget to mention our families, the people who suffer with and support us. The long workweeks we spend in the classroom, the hours of time preparing at home, all of these moments and more are shared with our families. In this issue, Matt Shannon, Rose Bard, and Ayat Tawel talk about being a teacher with members of their families. We at iTDi are grateful that Matt, Rose, and Ayat have taken their personal time to explore this issue with the people closest to them. We would like to thank them and their family members for helping all of us to better understand how being a teacher shapes our lives outside of the classroom.
Not a teacher's job, but teaching by Matt Shannon
Beyond Teaching Life by Rose Bard
From a Sister, For a Sister by Ayat Tawel
If you are thinking of joining in the conversation and interviewing a family member for your own blog or to post on social media, here is the list of questions used by bloggers in the ‘From the Teacher’s Family issue”:
1) What are three good things about having a mother/sister/wife/daughter who is a teacher?
2) Were there ever a moment in your life when you wished I wasn't a teacher? Please tell me about it.
3) Was there ever a moment when you were very proud of something I did as a teacher? Please tell me about it.
4) How do you think me being a teacher has made life more complicated for you?
5) Do you think I am well suited to be a teacher? Why?
6) What other jobs do you think I could have done or should have done?
7) Why do you think I became a teacher?
8) Why do you think I am a teacher now?
9) How would our lives change is I stopped being a teacher tomorrow?
10) Do you have a message you would like to give to teachers around the world?
11) Do you have a message you would like to give to family members of teachers around the world?
If you do write a post to add to the conversation, be sure to send a link to our blog curator, Kevin Stein, at kevchanwow@gmail.com.
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There is one thing I really like about iTDi advanced courses and the community as a whole. As a learner, I do not feel that there is any distance or intellectual snobbery -- If I might term it that way -- between me and the instructor who might have so many years of experience and accomplishments. I was enrolled in a number of online professional development courses and MOOCs which are well-structured, paced and insightful. However, this closeness and this human teaching and learning bond is missing unfortunately. Honestly speaking, this bond is one of the greatest assets of the iTDi online community. And this makes me motivated and eager to learn with so much enthusiasm and energy. I know in advance that my ideas and differences are welcomed and valued most of all.