This week I quoted Claude Monet as saying “I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.”
Can you think of a time when you felt inspired, or a particular event that occurred that placed your life on an entirely different path?
For me, that happened with my teaching career. After graduating from college, I decided I would start substitute teaching, and enroll in a teaching credential program to teach English. I grew up loving reading and writing, and thought it would be a good fit.
After subbing for a time, I realized that maybe I would rather get an elementary credential, and work with that age group; but I also remember thinking teaching elementary school wasn’t entirely a match as well.
And then, on a fateful day… I was asked if I would substitute teach in a special education class.
It is hard to believe, but I actually grew up without any exposure to special education, and really did not know what it was.
When I went to sub, I was placed in a class with students on the autism spectrum, and somehow, I knew I had found my fit as a teacher. I then began subbing exclusively in special education, and switched my credential program (once again) to become a Learning Specialist.
Now, over ten years later, I am still thankful for that fateful day, and the opportunity to work with all different types of learners. I realized, not too long after I began teaching, it is the mind and how it works that I am particularly drawn to; that is why I mostly read and recommend books about the brain on the blog!
I would like to end the post with this thought:
As teachers, we don’t entirely know the sort of impact we are having on our students. Perhaps you are inspiring your students, and fanning the flame for a certain calling/future career. It may be that you are creating a fateful season in your students’ lives where they too discover a new love.
