When I was 20, I was studying to be a reporter. It was my dream all the way through secondary school to see the world and report what I witnessed. I had confidence in “getting the story.” Years of struggling with spelling and grammar gave me little confidence in writing. I still loved the world of reporting since I loved learning new things.
When I was 30, I was in my last year working for the Ontario Government at Queen’s Park. I was confident in my job and could get it done. I loved my job but knew the people of Ontario were going to put me out of that job through an election. For 8 years afterwards, I always felt I’d go back to that type of job.
I’m 40, doing my last essay for my Post Graduate Diploma in Education. The essay is about investigating an educational problem in my school or my teaching. I spent most of last night watching myself teach for 5 lessons. It was amazing because I could see the changes in my teaching since I began in 2003. I could I’ve become far better due to the course (since it forced me to look at how I’m teaching). I couldn’t have come this far without the support of my co-teacher. I have so much confidence in the classroom. It’s where I’m the happiest and I could see it in the videos.
Perspective is an amazing thing.