Apples of Grace: 31 Days of Inspiration for the Educator

By Cortland Jones and Altamese Thompkins Larkins

Insights, information, and inspiration to inform, arm, and empower educators in their role to empower youth within the classroom to consistently demonstrate a greater display of self-efficacy and personal accountability towards excelling academically.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JayMedia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9780984929030

Book preview

DAY 1

Introduction

The first 3 years of my career as an educator sold me on the profession of being a classroom teacher. During the first 3 years my principal would arrange for staff members to go on a retreat paid for by the school district. During these staff retreats we would engage in team building activities and at other times we would participate in breakout sessions with other staff members from other school communities and school districts. It was these encounters and interactions that were the most memorable and rewarding to my early development as a professional. What I remember most from those encounters was hearing other professionals share their successes and challenges that allowed me to see I was not the only one experiencing the difficulties of teaching. In addition to this, it was an opportunity to learn from others’ successes and strategies I could make use of to improve my professional practice. It was during these encounters of being on retreat I actually expressed out loud the sentiment of being sold on being a teacher if every school year would include such professional retreats. It literally felt like we were taking a vacation in the middle of the school year, and we would return refreshed, reinvigorated, and ready to take on those challenges armed and empowered to tackle difficulties faced as a classroom