Teacher Identity

While reading the section "Teacher Identity" in Early Career English Teachers in Action, I began to realize what my future was coming to. The intro explains that an identity is both how others view you and how you see yourself. Developing a teacher identity is extremely important and only comes through experiences that shape you as a person. I really enjoyed how Lindsay Ellis broke down the identities as a teacher in all aspects of the job; not what you would think about as a first year teacher.

The stories were all very interesting but two stood out to me the most. "Integrity" by Amanda Brown was the first one that resonated with me. We share common characteristics such as being women of faith and being true to ourselves and what we believe in. Her situation is definitely something that I may come across my first years of teaching. I just need to remember that no matter what happens, do the right thing. If I do something that will leave me feeling guilty, I need to fix it. She could have easily not told anyone about the use of calculators on the test, saving money, time, and probably better results on the test. Instead she knew that she would feel guilty and reported it, staying true to herself. In the end she had better relationships with the staff and was more confident in herself. I strive to hold myself accountable like this as well. 1 Kings 9:4-5 shows us that God will deliver when we are people of integrity. Alike how God holds to his promises to David when he is a man of integrity and does not hide, Amanda was shown this delivery by the love of her boss and security of her job when she remained true to herself

The other story I loved was the very last one by Tracy Meinzer. When she said that she was a crier, she won my attention over. I am a total crier as well which made this story very relatable. I think that she saw how important relationships with students is, realizing that we do not know what they are going through at a fragile time in their life. We were all there once, and we don't always look back and notice how they are just in that stage. I need to keep this in mind especially teaching in a middle school... It's an awkward, self-exploring, self-finding age where they need a lot of support. The exercise she did with the class would be an awesome idea with a class that does not relate to each other well. The class opened up and saw that others were going through things alike or even worse than themselves.

Overall, this book is going to be super helpful and I will definitely be taking down ideas and advice for the future... :)