Resilient & Resourced Educator Podcast #7

Gwen: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

 Gwen is a seasoned and steady educator and is also my sister! While the chaotic changes this year have proved to be the greatest challenge in her 30 years of teaching, she remains firm that there is some glimmer of reasonable hope. With vulnerability, wisdom and compassion, Gwen shares her story of her personal and professional challenges in pandemic times and how she resources herself through it all.   After a decade out of the classroom, Gwen was unsure of what she’d be teaching until the week before classes started. The stress caused by the disorganized and constantly changing return-to-school plan had to be met head on with the calm resiliency that she has honed over the years. Those years included teaching kindergarten to Gr 8 with a range of responsibilities as well as being in the library for the past decade. Realizing her need to ask for help, Gwen has been reaching out to her colleagues and her family for support. She urges new teachers to focus on the social-emotional aspect before curriculum, especially this year, to create a space where students of all capabilities will feel safe, welcome and who will want to come to school.