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13 thoughts on “Report from the Field – Angie Dodd – 3”
I have to tell you that your journey touched me and I found myself crying on the second entry. I am so happy that you had true genuine support of great educators behind you and found the place that you were created to be. How blessed your students are to have such an inspiring teacher to follow. You persevered and followed your heart. Thank you for sharing your story.
“I had a deep dedication to all of my wounded parts, so I brought them all with me to work each day. No part of me had to be shoved into a corner in order for me to do my work.” This is so important. We have to be so honest to do this right, to bring all our parts with us to work each day. Thank you, Angie, for the reminder.
Thank you Angie. You are the embodiment of real life teaching and learning and connecting. I’m so honored and humbled to know you and learn from you.
“Most days they are all over the place, bumbling around with a hundred different behaviors and I just admire them and laugh and think โI am learning and doing my best and none of this is perfectโ,
YES! I appreciate this so much more than I can express! This is life, right?! I feel the energy of the community you create. Priceless. <3 <3 <3
Like Jen, I too am honored that I have the privilege of knowing you first hand and working with you in our sessions here in Maine (see you in August?- for back-to-school coaching?)
I truly admire you for your strength and fortitude which is so clearly evident in this post! You are an amazing woman, Angie!! You give others hope. Thank you!
and I too, like Jen, love the quip above ^^ haha!!! That’s what CI is all about and that’s why I love it! Just meet the kids where they’re at, and do the best that you and the kids can do!! Priceless.
๐ <3 ๐
Angie,
I’m so incredibly happy you have found peace in and out of yourself.
I remember some of the conversations you and I had, and the insatiable thirst you had to
understand why and how things were the way they were.
And really you found that there is no one answer.
It is all in the PROCESS, as painful as it may have been for you. Yes, it may sound cliche and sorry about that but it’s true. We couldn’t give you the answer to your personal and professional quest.
You just had to live it. And you did, because you were ready to let go and feel the pain rather than push it away . And you came out stronger as a person, and I have no doubt you’ve grown tremendously as a teacher.
Peace my friend, hope to see you soon if not this summer than at Skip Conference this Autumn!
Angie,
You inspire me to rededicate myself to EMBRACE ALL difficult times, situations and experiences as lessons and bridges to becoming stronger, wiser, more effective and human?
I love and appreciate your honesty, transparency and insights!
Thanks Angie, and WOW, do you write well! ๐
Hope to see you in October!
Skip (Beth and Gabe too)
Dear Angie,
Nothing is more beautiful than a loving and vulnerable human being. That is you.
It is also difficult. Your openness to life and love and all that it brings us is so powerful and so real that we are all blessed and honored to know you.
Your students are blessed to have you as well. I know that they have been part of your journey, and will be every day of your teaching life. That is what teaching is.
But you also have a teaching family…outside of your classroom, outside of your lesson plans, outside of the day to day work. We love you, and admire you more than you will ever know.
And yes….you are an incredible writer!
with love,
Laurie
Congratulations, Angie, on creating such a valuable year of class for your students in your first year of teaching! AND it’s inspiring hearing of your personal journey along the way.
That anxiety going into class in the morning is real. No doubt. These past couple of months I’ve had to clear that 10 minutes before my first period, every morning, to sit behind my desk with the lights off, gaze out at the city skyline from my classroom’s 5th floor window, and meditate, chanting some words of affirmation.
Thanks for helping me see that this teaching gig is one of the heart. I’m working on that, especially in seeing how negative statements from students are often, deep down, masked pleas for some love.
I wish you a restful summer and I sure hope you continue helping us become better teachers in the years to come.
Thank you for sharing your story, Angie! Your honesty and perseverance are inspiring.
So many of us have suffered through this past year, for many different reasons, internal and external. Just getting through is sometimes the greatest victory. Knowing that we are not alone in our difficulties and challenges, being able to draw strength and support from each others’ stories, is what makes this PLC so special. Thank you, Angie for honoring us with your brutally honest story.
Sean, I can completely relate to that daily anxiety, the sense of panic before the day, or before a particularly challenging period, or knowing that the attempts to connect with kids flopped the previous day and will probably flop again today, but not giving up on them our ourselves.
Angie, your story touched me deeply. I am humbled and proud to work in this garden of TCI with you.
Chill
Thanks Ben for giving me the chance to reflect and share, and thanks for your responses everyone!
Thanks for reflecting, Angie. And thanks for sharing student comments. There is nothing like seeing in print that students connect with what we are doing and are able to appreciate the power of slow and constant (90%+), and learning to comprehend, and little by little. Save those surveys.