This post is part of a series inspired by the #IMMOOC book study of Katie Martin’s book, Learner-Centered Innovation.

This fall will mark 27 years since I first entered the classroom as a full-fledged teacher.  When I reflect on the journey, and how I’ve evolved as an educator in that time, I often don’t recognize the teacher I was then.  I know the young woman who enjoyed being with her students, dabbled in some early education technology, and strove to refine her skills and knowledge, but I don’t recognize the person who felt the need to be “in charge”, the “expert”, the perfectionist.

Part of my transition to the educator I am today was actually stepping away from teaching for a while.  After eight years in the classroom, including a particularly disheartening year at a school that offered little teacher autonomy and a very tight focus on rules, procedures, and testing, I took ten years off to stay at home with my children.  Coming back to the profession after a decade was confirmation that the job was right for me, but it also made me feel at a huge disadvantage; I felt that I had missed out on crucial discussions, learning about various ed tech advances, and developing updated teaching strategies.  With the support of a wonderful administrator, I threw myself into professional reading and various professional development opportunities, including a series of university classes.  Through these experiences and learning activities, I’ve been able to embrace the evolving role of an educator on several fronts, but still recognize where I have room to grow.

In Learner-Centered Innovation, Katie Martin outlines the four aspects of the evolving role of the educator.  A tweak I would make is to have a greater emphasis on being a Community Developer with students’ families.  Especially as a kindergarten teacher, it’s important to honour those first family relationships students have as they enter the new and larger community of school.  There is so much support and goodwill to be gained by having good working relationships with families, and students are excited and motivated to share their learning with parents and guardians. This is an area that I struggle with and constantly try to improve on, and I am grateful for apps such as Seesaw that make communication and digital sharing so much easier and more satisfying.

The world of education is truly always on the move, and it’s our professional responsibility to question our current practices, and move forward with research-based solutions to best meet the needs of our students.  I have changed so much in 27 years, and I know  – thankfully -the evolution isn’t complete. The ability to constantly evolve and improve is one of the things that makes this profession so exhilarating.