Mentions: latoyadixon5

Don’t Let Them Poison You!

I can remember when I began my teaching career in 1999. I was so excited to finally have my own classroom. I was full of ideas and excitement. It was a dream come true. 

And then I went to school. Dodging the negativity was like ducking as random spears were thrown from every direction. From the day I started to present, I’ve worked hard to protect my fire. Yep. It’s so awful, but we all know those who pride themselves on making sure you are realistic by pouring negativity, complaint on top of complaint, and bitterness on every exciting moment possible.
 I’ve come to realize that I am responsible for stirring my passion when it needs to be stirred. I stoke my own fire by reading, dreaming with those who believe, collaborating and connecting with like minded folks.  And I’m also responsible for not letting those whose fire has been stomped out with bitterness because they lack the will to believe infect me with their poison.
So my message today is to encourage educators everywhere to stoke your fire this summer. Find someone who wants to dream of what could be instead of anticipate what can’t happen. Stay far away from those who want to infect you with the poison of negativity. Pay attention to how and who you are spending your professional time with-you may be susceptible to being poisoned and not even know it. Stay on the bright side, don’t just look at it. There’s a challenge for all of us.
Until next time-be you, be true, be a hope builder!
Latoya

Why We Are Breaking Up (I’m letting go of the words Master Teacher)

Recently at our principals’ retreat I found myself a little more outspoken than normal. I’m a quiet person at first, but once I get to know you I can do some talking. The other thing that makes me speak up is when I really feel I have to something to say because I’m passionate about it or my brain is at full throttle. 

At any rate, our required reading was Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet. He emphasized the need for a leader-leader model instead of a leader-follower model. If you haven’t read it, you should.
And that is why I’m breaking up with the word: Master Teacher.
Nobody is a master teacher. The word indicates that there is a such thing as mastering the art of teaching.  Because best practices are constantly being developed, added to, and changing, mastering the art of teaching isn’t possible (in my not so humble opinion-I know..I could use a bite of humility as my posts have been pretty direct lately).
So master teacher, it’s over. My new love is master learner. Master learner indicates we understand that we learn first and teach second. We understand that we must be perpetual learners who seek knowledge to help us sharpen our teaching skills. We understand that in order to be the best at teaching we must be the best at learning. We understand that although we may master the art of learning, we must work to stay on top of our teaching skills. Being a great teacher today doesn’t make you a great one tomorrow, unless you keep learning.
Until next time-be you, be true, be a hope builder,
Latoya

An Open Letter to Dream Crushers (and other lessons from #ISTE2015)

A tweet from yesterday at ISTE:
Jack Gallegher, Keynote at ‪#ISTE2015reminds us that our kids deserve the right to dream whatever they want to dream! Don’t crush dreams!-@latoyadixon5
Dear Dream Crushers (myself included),
So often we spend too much time trying to be realistic and as educators we almost become missionaries in helping students develop realistic goals. My experience at ISTE 2015 has stirred my thinking on this quite a bit. Mostly, it’s made me question myself-which is a good practice for all of us. It means we reflect on what we do and why we do it.
Listening to Jack Gallegher, the keynote speaker on Tuesday at #ISTE2015 really pushed my thinking. We (yes-I am assuming you do this too for two reasons-1. You probably do, 2. It makes me feel better) are good at telling our students to be realistic about what they want for their future. Jack spoke extensively about his son, a child with autism, not  his autistic child-I loved the distinction he made. He spoke to us about how labels are limiting and why he made the distinction. He spoke personally and passionately about how much time he wasted trying to help his son fit in and how once he stopped trying to make him into what he thought he ought to be, his son really blossomed.
It leads me to think, who are we to say what is realistic for our students? We don’t know if the next scientist who will find the cure for cancer is sitting right in our classrooms. Or if the next computer scientists who will revolutionize the way we work, live, and play is walking the halls in our school. You’d think with experience we would get better at being open to the fact that although our students are the future, we certainly don’t know and can’t say with certainty what their future holds.  When I think about growing up with my two older sisters in poverty, raised by my single mother, in the projects, I am so glad we were not realistic. We were crazy enough to believe that we were smart enough to do whatever we wanted to do…and we did. If we had been realistic we wouldn’t have had the power to defy every statistic connected to kids of poverty.
Perhaps there is a kid who we perceive as having a non-impact on the future, or an otherwise negative one, who is just waiting for us to stop being dream crushers to blossom. Instead of telling our kids “well, I’d like for you to make a practical goal. Choose something realistic that you can accomplish,” why aren’t we saying-Your dream is too small. Dream big. Why can’t you be the scientist who finds the cure for cancer? Sure you can.
Conversely, it leads me to think or question: Why is it that we think we know that the future of some our students are bright based on their parents or SES status? We still operate under the assumption “You come from a good family so you’ll be fine”. After years of experience, I have seen this theory disproven over and over again. What I am sure of, is that we limit the dreams of our kids, when our own dreams are limited by our thinking.
Success is not a birthright and neither is failure.  Your parents’ success has nothing to do with yours. Who our students’ parents are, their family values, etc. does not guarantee success as student or learner. The sooner we confront how often we make this assumption and how blind we are, the better off we will be. All of our students need to be developed and guided to dream and dream big. Don’t sell your kids short just because you have your own set of issues believing in things you’ve not seen or experienced.
So to all you dream crushers-stop it!
Until next time-be you, be true, and be a hope builder,
Latoya
@latoyadixon5