How did I get here?
NO - not the whole stork carrying the baby story!
How did I end up in education - teaching ELL - aspiring to be an administrator - and connected to some of the best educators and advocates for education that I've ever known?
Would it surprise you if I said I've always loved school?
Yes, I was the teachers pet - not because I sought out attention, but because I loved being on task. This holds true today, in that I hate having my time wasted. I dislike doing things that have little effect.
A pivotal point in my young journey as a learner occurred near the end of 10th grade. My sister had just graduated high school and I had been following in her footsteps since first grade.
"Oh you're Marcelle's sister?.......... you don't look very much like her!..........I hope you're as good as a student as she is!" - were very familiar greeting from teachers. I had had enough of being in her illustrious academic and sports shadow. She would captain the A team, I would captain the B team - and even now with her graduated from school, I felt my feet would always swim a bit in her big shoes.
I made a courageous decision to change high schools in 11th grade - and I believe that change has led me to where I am today. You see, I was accepted into a private Catholic, all girls, multi-racial high school. It was an hour, bus ride away in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg - far away from my neighborhood (across the tracks, so to speak). While I had several of my elementary friends join me, it was an elitist opportunity that set me in the most diverse arena I could possibly be - the understatement of irony cannot be explained in this one blog.
Our high schools started in 8th grade and by 11th grade, I stepped out of the shadow into our local, public high school. Talk about culture shock! From a private school of 200 students K-12 to an 11th grade class of 120 students. I was lost - literally and figuratively! It took me until the end of my senior year to be used to interacting with boys all day. I didn't succeed academically like I could have at the private school - and that was my own doing - no fault of the public system. What I thought would be my opportunity to shine - became a struggle to find my feet. (Ironically I had double bunion surgery that year - and had white casts on both feet for a few months). Yup - no where to hide as new girl now!
Then we moved to the United States 7 months after my high school graduation - and now I was lost but on a much wider scale. I always knew the move was coming - my parents had started to prepare us when I was in 5th grade. However after hearing the story a few times, it became like the 'boy who cried wolf'. My friends stopped believing me - and so the dream was pocketed - until 1992.
My grades in S.Africa didn't translate well here - and the differences in school systems again is too much for this current story. So I made another bold move - this time with outcomes that far exceeded my expectations. I enrolled in 12th grade again - in our local public high school in Ohio. Fish out of water - oh boy!
I will tell you that the year we immigrated - "Wayne's World" had just come out. I had the opportunity to watch it - and gosh I'm glad I did. Talk about socio-cultural jokes that ran rampart about the school building (yet I was in the know). I look back on that year being so grateful that English was my dominant language. How lost I really could have been. Sure I was confused as a foreign exchange student that entire year, BUT, I took chorus all year long - as I was a passionate musician. Not only did I meet some life long friends in Chorus (one of whom became my first husband) - but our director was the one who inspired me to become a music teacher. Not a (she invested in me and mentored me situation - because I don't' really have one of those great stories to tell) - but I didn't even know that music teachers at the high school level existed. At the elementary level we took general music, but the arts were not offered at the high school level in the public school system. Not as a class anyway - only as extra curricular - to which I took full advantage of for drama and choir! I would have loved to experience being in choir all through high school. What a community! I also took auditioned for and participated in most musicals and plays and became a proud THESPIAN :)
So I began my college career in the field of music - however not in education, but in Music Therapy. You see, I knew I had a heart for helping people and the College of Mount St. Joseph offered a Music Therapy degree. I had a catalog from the University of Dayton that I would pour over back home- and was set on Music Therapy sometime in 10th grade. I entered as a piano major with a minor in voice and was living the college dream :)
A move to Lee College (now Lee University) in Cleveland, TN - shifted my focus to a Church Music degree, which last about a year and half. At this time I was a vocal major, and was fortunate to sing with Ladies of Lee and tour a few cities even.
It wasn't that I didn't love being a music major - I just hadn't settled on a career choice in music. What young adult really knows what they want to do with their future - and I never realized that I had the option to change my mind a few times if necessary.
I returned to Cincinnati to finish my Bachelors of Music in 1998 and due to my immigration status at that point, I HAD to keep studying. Yea for me ! Not being entirely set on music performance as a career (largely due to the daily demand of practicing if I have to be honest) - I began a Masters degree at the University of Cincinnati in Speech Language Pathology. I was also very interested in language and the science involved in language learning. IF you know where I am now - I think you are beginning to connect the dots. Everything for a reason right.? Unfortunately that was a very rough time for me personally - living on my own for the first time and not making stellar choices. I also divorced and met my second husband (let's just say RED FLAG CITY).
I left U.C. after one year (not wasted if I look back on my learning) and enrolled the next fall at the College of Mount St. Joseph again to earn my Masters of Education with a Music Education Major. Finally on the right track! I was fortunate enough to hear about a nearby private catholic school that needed a music teacher. So in a rare opportunity - I was able to teach for the very first time - right as I was taking my methods classes. As I learned - I implemented. A very cool lab experience. Unfortunately to earn my teaching license with the state I had to complete student teaching - which meant I had to leave my first full time paying teaching job!? Crazy I know!
I started teaching 2002 in Cincinnati Public Schools in Ohio - general music K-8!
In 2004 I also decided to pursue my administration license and enrolled in a wonderful program that took a cohort of 40 students through an intense summer learning program - then through a one or two year program (depending on how many classes you took).
I took the fast track and by June of 2005 I graduated with a second masters in Educational Foundations with my administration certificate K-12. Also in 2005 I had the idea to a different public school district to teach vocal music grades 6-8. Great experience but another rough year personally. A brief stint at a VERY prestigious private school in Ohio and I had now run the gamut of teaching possibilities. My favorite - public schools that were diverse!
During this second masters we had to focus on a special population during a class on Student Services and Pupil Personnel. ELL!? What the heck was that. It was a partner presentation - for the life of me I can't remember my partner - but I can tell you the book was blue and white and I sunk my teeth into that chapter and chewed it up!!!!
I WAS HOOKED!
However, a small detour in life was presented after a broken leg changed my life (another story entirely). I was not teaching at the time, however I also needed to start a new life (without husband #2 ~trust me it was necessary).
I returned to the classroom as a teacher and as a student in the Fall of 2007 (met my now husband of 6.5 years and counting.....).
I was teaching music again (K-8)and had entered the doctoral program of Urban Educational Leadership at the University of Cincinnati. Life was back on track. I included the TESOL endorsement into my program of study and after the first year had earned it. This was the time to make the switch to teaching ELL's that I was so very connected to ~emotionally, mentally and soon physically ~story teaser!
In the fall of 2008 I became the first ELL teacher in a very large Paideia school (one of the schools of choice within Cincinnati Public Schools). I had 127 children (all Hispanic) on my caseload - and one para. Fish out of ...... but no wait - I wasn't. I LOVED IT! I got to do what I love most - and am good at - I developed a program with protocols (with rationale) and was teaching! I learned a lot those 3 years - as my coursework became my practice. I love how my life mirrors life :)
During my second year there (second year in my doctoral program) we decided to start a family. Due to many personal reasons - we decided to adopt older children. In the summer of 2010 when my dissertation should have been complete (can you say procrastination) - we were on a plane - chasing the sunrise to bring our first two boys home from Taiwan. I did write a lot on the plane between movies/sleep/meals/blogging about our journey and excited chatter! I also left my jump drive on the plane with all my writing ! :) (This is when you say - as my husband does "Oh! Geniene!)
Talk about distractions - home during the summer with two new children - who speak maybe two words of English!
Well - my friends describe me first as 'determined' - and determined I was. I set aside a few nights a week to write. I'm actually sitting in the exact same chair and room as I did back then - typing away. (This room has changed from a study- to a dining room - to a family room - and back to a study in the past 4 years. That's why I thought it would be worth mentioning it. We embrace change in this household is the point I'm trying to make.)
With a doctorate in hand, my husband encouraged me to teach in the same district where our children attended school. It made sense - not only logistically with snow days and all - but it was time to become invested in my own community. So, in the fall of 2011 I joined Boone County Schools as an ELL itinerant. Wouldn't you know - I was placed in my youngest son's elementary school - as well as another elementary school. Change of systems - definite change of school cultures - and I loved it!
In the summer of 2012 we returned to Taiwan to adopt our third child (note I didn't say final..... working on that one....maybe....) and life settled back to 'normal'.
Two years later and I'm now teaching in an elementary school, a middle school and a high school and the challenges not only of scheduling logistics and age range is both energizing and a great catalyst for district wide systems to be in place.
I know I passed over this summer as if it was just another summer. I've posted before about our summer PLN - a group of 'campers' that met via a phone app to discuss a book. We could have gone our separate ways after that. And some of us did - with no judgement whatsoever on their choice. Yet I can confidently say that a book study changed my professional outlook. It was the impetus I needed to dig deeper and set professional goals that were way out of line of sight at the time. I shared one day during the summer, that I was feeling defeated. I have applied for several administrative jobs since 2005 and have always been the bridesmaid and never the bride. A few no's won't set me back, and remember Geniene is determined! I truly believe - the right position at the right time. Until then I will continue to grow professionally - invest in my community of students and learners - and well....
that is my story - to date.......
How did I end up in education - teaching ELL - aspiring to be an administrator - and connected to some of the best educators and advocates for education that I've ever known?
Would it surprise you if I said I've always loved school?
Yes, I was the teachers pet - not because I sought out attention, but because I loved being on task. This holds true today, in that I hate having my time wasted. I dislike doing things that have little effect.
A pivotal point in my young journey as a learner occurred near the end of 10th grade. My sister had just graduated high school and I had been following in her footsteps since first grade.
"Oh you're Marcelle's sister?.......... you don't look very much like her!..........I hope you're as good as a student as she is!" - were very familiar greeting from teachers. I had had enough of being in her illustrious academic and sports shadow. She would captain the A team, I would captain the B team - and even now with her graduated from school, I felt my feet would always swim a bit in her big shoes.
I made a courageous decision to change high schools in 11th grade - and I believe that change has led me to where I am today. You see, I was accepted into a private Catholic, all girls, multi-racial high school. It was an hour, bus ride away in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg - far away from my neighborhood (across the tracks, so to speak). While I had several of my elementary friends join me, it was an elitist opportunity that set me in the most diverse arena I could possibly be - the understatement of irony cannot be explained in this one blog.
Our high schools started in 8th grade and by 11th grade, I stepped out of the shadow into our local, public high school. Talk about culture shock! From a private school of 200 students K-12 to an 11th grade class of 120 students. I was lost - literally and figuratively! It took me until the end of my senior year to be used to interacting with boys all day. I didn't succeed academically like I could have at the private school - and that was my own doing - no fault of the public system. What I thought would be my opportunity to shine - became a struggle to find my feet. (Ironically I had double bunion surgery that year - and had white casts on both feet for a few months). Yup - no where to hide as new girl now!
Then we moved to the United States 7 months after my high school graduation - and now I was lost but on a much wider scale. I always knew the move was coming - my parents had started to prepare us when I was in 5th grade. However after hearing the story a few times, it became like the 'boy who cried wolf'. My friends stopped believing me - and so the dream was pocketed - until 1992.
My grades in S.Africa didn't translate well here - and the differences in school systems again is too much for this current story. So I made another bold move - this time with outcomes that far exceeded my expectations. I enrolled in 12th grade again - in our local public high school in Ohio. Fish out of water - oh boy!
I will tell you that the year we immigrated - "Wayne's World" had just come out. I had the opportunity to watch it - and gosh I'm glad I did. Talk about socio-cultural jokes that ran rampart about the school building (yet I was in the know). I look back on that year being so grateful that English was my dominant language. How lost I really could have been. Sure I was confused as a foreign exchange student that entire year, BUT, I took chorus all year long - as I was a passionate musician. Not only did I meet some life long friends in Chorus (one of whom became my first husband) - but our director was the one who inspired me to become a music teacher. Not a (she invested in me and mentored me situation - because I don't' really have one of those great stories to tell) - but I didn't even know that music teachers at the high school level existed. At the elementary level we took general music, but the arts were not offered at the high school level in the public school system. Not as a class anyway - only as extra curricular - to which I took full advantage of for drama and choir! I would have loved to experience being in choir all through high school. What a community! I also took auditioned for and participated in most musicals and plays and became a proud THESPIAN :)
So I began my college career in the field of music - however not in education, but in Music Therapy. You see, I knew I had a heart for helping people and the College of Mount St. Joseph offered a Music Therapy degree. I had a catalog from the University of Dayton that I would pour over back home- and was set on Music Therapy sometime in 10th grade. I entered as a piano major with a minor in voice and was living the college dream :)
A move to Lee College (now Lee University) in Cleveland, TN - shifted my focus to a Church Music degree, which last about a year and half. At this time I was a vocal major, and was fortunate to sing with Ladies of Lee and tour a few cities even.
It wasn't that I didn't love being a music major - I just hadn't settled on a career choice in music. What young adult really knows what they want to do with their future - and I never realized that I had the option to change my mind a few times if necessary.
I returned to Cincinnati to finish my Bachelors of Music in 1998 and due to my immigration status at that point, I HAD to keep studying. Yea for me ! Not being entirely set on music performance as a career (largely due to the daily demand of practicing if I have to be honest) - I began a Masters degree at the University of Cincinnati in Speech Language Pathology. I was also very interested in language and the science involved in language learning. IF you know where I am now - I think you are beginning to connect the dots. Everything for a reason right.? Unfortunately that was a very rough time for me personally - living on my own for the first time and not making stellar choices. I also divorced and met my second husband (let's just say RED FLAG CITY).
I left U.C. after one year (not wasted if I look back on my learning) and enrolled the next fall at the College of Mount St. Joseph again to earn my Masters of Education with a Music Education Major. Finally on the right track! I was fortunate enough to hear about a nearby private catholic school that needed a music teacher. So in a rare opportunity - I was able to teach for the very first time - right as I was taking my methods classes. As I learned - I implemented. A very cool lab experience. Unfortunately to earn my teaching license with the state I had to complete student teaching - which meant I had to leave my first full time paying teaching job!? Crazy I know!
I started teaching 2002 in Cincinnati Public Schools in Ohio - general music K-8!
In 2004 I also decided to pursue my administration license and enrolled in a wonderful program that took a cohort of 40 students through an intense summer learning program - then through a one or two year program (depending on how many classes you took).
I took the fast track and by June of 2005 I graduated with a second masters in Educational Foundations with my administration certificate K-12. Also in 2005 I had the idea to a different public school district to teach vocal music grades 6-8. Great experience but another rough year personally. A brief stint at a VERY prestigious private school in Ohio and I had now run the gamut of teaching possibilities. My favorite - public schools that were diverse!
During this second masters we had to focus on a special population during a class on Student Services and Pupil Personnel. ELL!? What the heck was that. It was a partner presentation - for the life of me I can't remember my partner - but I can tell you the book was blue and white and I sunk my teeth into that chapter and chewed it up!!!!
I WAS HOOKED!
However, a small detour in life was presented after a broken leg changed my life (another story entirely). I was not teaching at the time, however I also needed to start a new life (without husband #2 ~trust me it was necessary).
I returned to the classroom as a teacher and as a student in the Fall of 2007 (met my now husband of 6.5 years and counting.....).
I was teaching music again (K-8)and had entered the doctoral program of Urban Educational Leadership at the University of Cincinnati. Life was back on track. I included the TESOL endorsement into my program of study and after the first year had earned it. This was the time to make the switch to teaching ELL's that I was so very connected to ~emotionally, mentally and soon physically ~story teaser!
In the fall of 2008 I became the first ELL teacher in a very large Paideia school (one of the schools of choice within Cincinnati Public Schools). I had 127 children (all Hispanic) on my caseload - and one para. Fish out of ...... but no wait - I wasn't. I LOVED IT! I got to do what I love most - and am good at - I developed a program with protocols (with rationale) and was teaching! I learned a lot those 3 years - as my coursework became my practice. I love how my life mirrors life :)
During my second year there (second year in my doctoral program) we decided to start a family. Due to many personal reasons - we decided to adopt older children. In the summer of 2010 when my dissertation should have been complete (can you say procrastination) - we were on a plane - chasing the sunrise to bring our first two boys home from Taiwan. I did write a lot on the plane between movies/sleep/meals/blogging about our journey and excited chatter! I also left my jump drive on the plane with all my writing ! :) (This is when you say - as my husband does "Oh! Geniene!)
Talk about distractions - home during the summer with two new children - who speak maybe two words of English!
Well - my friends describe me first as 'determined' - and determined I was. I set aside a few nights a week to write. I'm actually sitting in the exact same chair and room as I did back then - typing away. (This room has changed from a study- to a dining room - to a family room - and back to a study in the past 4 years. That's why I thought it would be worth mentioning it. We embrace change in this household is the point I'm trying to make.)
With a doctorate in hand, my husband encouraged me to teach in the same district where our children attended school. It made sense - not only logistically with snow days and all - but it was time to become invested in my own community. So, in the fall of 2011 I joined Boone County Schools as an ELL itinerant. Wouldn't you know - I was placed in my youngest son's elementary school - as well as another elementary school. Change of systems - definite change of school cultures - and I loved it!
In the summer of 2012 we returned to Taiwan to adopt our third child (note I didn't say final..... working on that one....maybe....) and life settled back to 'normal'.
Two years later and I'm now teaching in an elementary school, a middle school and a high school and the challenges not only of scheduling logistics and age range is both energizing and a great catalyst for district wide systems to be in place.
I know I passed over this summer as if it was just another summer. I've posted before about our summer PLN - a group of 'campers' that met via a phone app to discuss a book. We could have gone our separate ways after that. And some of us did - with no judgement whatsoever on their choice. Yet I can confidently say that a book study changed my professional outlook. It was the impetus I needed to dig deeper and set professional goals that were way out of line of sight at the time. I shared one day during the summer, that I was feeling defeated. I have applied for several administrative jobs since 2005 and have always been the bridesmaid and never the bride. A few no's won't set me back, and remember Geniene is determined! I truly believe - the right position at the right time. Until then I will continue to grow professionally - invest in my community of students and learners - and well....
that is my story - to date.......
Loved your post Geniene! All #PTCampers in our #PLN should read your story!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brenda!! I enjoyed reflecting on the journey... with more to come :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post Geniene! What an amazing journey!!!
ReplyDelete