Quotes and motivation

The greatest sign of success for a teacher...is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."  Maria Montessori

If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to be hoped from it in the bettering of man's future. For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual's total development lags behind?  Maria Montessori

Optimal educational opportunities for a young child to reach his or her potential and to develop in a harmonious fashion are not created by accelerated ultra-early instruction aimed at shortening the childhood period.  Elena Bodrova, Ph.D., 2005. High quality preschool programs: What would Vygotsky say?

I had a built-in passion that it was important to make a real contribution to the world and to fix all the injustices.  Louise Derman-Sparks

I'm not here to save the world. I'm just here to make a difference in the community where I'm working. Raymond Hernandez MS Ed

My childhood web

Here are 5 people who influenced me in my early life.

Grandma Erno (paternal grandmother): She and I shared a love of music. She started teaching me to play the piano and I loved spending time with her. She was easy to be around. I was her oldest grandchild and she was a loving grandparent. She also showed me bravery. She was a British war bride who left her family and everything she knew behind to come to Canada and live on a farm in the middle of nowhere until her new husband could join her. She is no longer with us but her influence is felt to this day.

Dad: I was a real daddy's girl. I loved to be around him and he taught me to build and work on cars. He also played barbies and school with me. He was easy to talk to and always showed unconditional love. He celebrated all my achievements, no matter how small. He always took time for me even when I had 3 siblings. He battled cancer for 3 years and finally lost about 12 years ago. I still miss him dreadfully. He has been such a large part of making me who I am.

Michael John (cousin): He was 6 months younger than me. He was fun and even though he was a boy, an important distinction when you're only 7, we always played together. My aunt was a single mom for the first years of his life and I learned from him complete devotion to another person.

Mademoiselle Glavina (2nd grade teacher): From her, I got my love of reading and joy for learning. Because of her, I loved going to school. I struggled to make friends and she worked with me to help me with this. She believed in me and encouraged me to do things that were out of my comfort  zone. In her class, I played the evil queen in a class production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. That was quite a feat for someone as shy and insecure as I was. She knew that I would shine.

Mom: My mom was and still is a shaping influence in my life. I learned patience and perseverance from her. She wouldn't let me quit. She stayed home with us while my dad worked and was always busy with our school, girl guides, dance lessons, piano lessons. She organized our lives and was the rock that stabilized our family. I learned to go with the flow from her. When my dad would come home on Thursday night with the idea of going camping for the weekend, she would immediately jump into action and get everything a family of 6 would need.

Quotes

Some quotes I like.

Keep calm and pretend this is on the lesson plan. - Anonymous
Free the child's potential and you will transform him into the world.  - Maria Montessori
The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don't tell you what to see. - Alexandra K Trenfor
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. - Albert Einstein

What keeps me going

The assignment this week was to post anything that fuels my passion for early childhood education. Here are some of the things that fuel me.
When a child runs into class in the morning to tell me that she has a playdate after school.
When a child does up the zipper on his coat for the first time by himself and gives me a big smile cause now he's "big" boy.
When a child who came to me speaking no English puts together his first sentence.
When a child asks me what I'm doing, while watching me write on a paper, and understands that I'm joking when I reply that I'm peeling a banana.
Watching my students grow, develop, explore, make friends and achieve goals.
These are small things to some, but to my students and me, these are everyday reasons to celebrate.

First steps

Working on the first steps in my journey...getting to know the other people who are starting it with me. Seems like it will be an interesting group and I'm looking forward to working with you all. Blogging is not completely new to me as we have been keeping a class blog for the last couple of years. This one will be a little different though. I'm looking forward to the challenge. :-)