Monsieur Autio

I’m one of those lucky people who knew what they wanted to be from a young age. In Grade 7, the year 2000, we were asked to interview someone with the career we may want when grow up likely for the subject then known as Career and Personal Planning (“CAPP”). I can’t pinpoint exactly what it was that inspired me at that point in my life but I decided to interview my Grade 1 and Grade 2 teacher, Madame G.. Though the details of the interview are long since forgotten, this task was a definitive point in my calling to education.

Since the age of 12 I have been keenly watching teachers and learning from them. During my teenage years, I looked up not only to my own teachers but those young adults in my life who were becoming teachers. What I admired most them was that they were organized! Everything had its time and everything had its place – laminated, labeled and, colour coded. To become a great teacher, I needed to be organized.

This led me to be a “keener” in all regards, workin hard to become a great teacher while sacrificing the joy of being present and authentic to myself. I worked very hard at building the “perfect” exterior.

I remember in teachers college, circa 2013, my Philosophy of Education professor, Jason Price, asked us why we wanted to be teachers. I answered along the lines of “because I like to be organized!” After everyone shared their answers, he kindly said that none of us had good reasons to be teachers. What is a good reason, then?

Do I still like things to be organized? Absolutely I do, however my raison d’être for teaching has grown beyond the external.

Another professor, whom I forget his name, once said “The sign of an inexperienced teacher is they think ‘how am I doing’ while an experienced teacher thinks ‘how are my students doing?’” Though I feel now I could argue there is always room for both self-reflection on the part of the teacher as well as the empathy towards the student experience, the statement awakened me to a deeper sense of a good reason to teach – the students.

Which brings me to another formative moment that has made a lasting impression on my career. In the car on the way to a Tuba Christmas gig at a Lady’s Luncheon with my private instrumental tutor Gene Dowling, I asked him, “What makes a great teacher?” His response was gentle, matter of fact, and resonantes with me to this day, “You should know the answer to this: a great teacher is one who inspires.”

This is the goal of this blog: to inspire. There will certainly be some “external” tips and tricks of the trade, but also some “internal” personal reflections on books, resources, and experiences. All of this in hopes of helping each other find ways to inspire teachers and ultimately serve students more fully.

Do you see yourself in this story? Leave a comment! 

Who inspired you as an early or pre-service teacher? 

What are the quotes or questions that have stayed with you? 

What about you is inspirational? 

Autios! À la prochaine!