YDEV 560 #2

Quite honestly, I'm feeling a little lost in the world of 'work' right now. I am in the middle and at the beginning of a few really big transitions in my life and it has me feeling a little stuck. I made the decision to not return to the school that I had been at for the past three years. Me and my partner have decided that we'd like to make a big move and are planning to be up in Vermont by January of next year. All that being said, I'm currently working part time doing nannying and bartending to get me through this last semester. However, I'm not sure that returning to the classroom will be what is best for me no matter where I reside. I'm feeling a little lost to my purpose and so I'm not sure exactly where to take this class, especially since I already presented my capstone. I'm eager to continue finding the answers to those and more questions! I wrote 15 questions on a similar topic to my capstone, and 5 about my personal journey. 

1. How do you support student's emotional growth/stability without compromising academic goals?

2. And/Or is how we measure academic growth actually harming emotional growth/stability for students?

3. Why ARENT we measuring emotional and mental growth outside academic goals in school settings? 

4. How do you create an environment where teachers feel heard, supported, and valued?

5. Why are we in the midst of a major teacher resignation? 

6. How do you promote inclusivity and empathy in an early childhood environment? Do parents care?

7. How do you involve more parent education in a school setting?

8. How important is a teacher's own stability/ mental health in running a classroom and do we support it?

9. Can you really create a curriculum that's 'universal'? Are you robbing teachers of the opportunity to react and create in real time for the real faces in front of them?

10. The standards we use for curriculum in early childhood - who are they created by? for? Can they also be 'universal' or is this a huge disservice to our students?

11. How can you best serve your students when you do not share the same background/culture as them?    Are you best to serve them? 

12. How can we create more collaboration between teachers/researchers? 

13. When do parents really care about the 'culture' of the school setting? Why? 

14. How much influence does the administration really have on classroom and school culture? Why?

15. How can I find more balance in the responsibility I hold for others verses myself?

16. How else can I impact children without direct care?

17. Where can I find an environment of support, care, and passion to work in? Do I have to create it?

18. How do you foster contentment? Should you always be striving for the next thing?

19. How much does a "career" really mean when it comes to purpose? 

20.  Who am I if I can't define myself with my profession?

21. What if we could allow teachers to create their own curriculum?

22. What if we started focusing on social/emotional skills early on in a school setting....and never stopped? How would the world be different?

23. What if parents were as focused on social emotional growth as academic goals?

24. What if we evaluated students with them? Even at an early childhood age, what would that look like?

25. What if what we want to do doesn't exist? How do you find your niche?