I’ve always loved working with kids, but when I started teaching full-time this year, I began to question whether I was cut out for this field after all. Then the Elevated sessions began. My mentor asked about my journey to the preschool classroom and it felt good that she cared about my story. She made me feel comfortable voicing my struggles without judgment. Suddenly these challenges didn’t feel permanent; it was possible to address them. My mentor gave me advice from her many years in the classroom, and I realized that it’s okay to be struggling. It’s normal for the first year of teaching to be hard, because I’m new! I’m still learning. Whatever I learned with ElevatEd, I implemented that very afternoon in my classroom! My lead teacher would even ask, “What did you learn in Elevated that we can use today?” I am so grateful for the support I needed as a new teacher. Now I am feeling excited to continue to learn and grow as an educator.
This experience has made me feel more confident and capable as an educator. I love what I’m doing now! Having a support system with other educators and my mentor have been really helpful in solidifying my growth and confidence. ElevatEd is an amazing learning opportunity. The classes and mentorship give me a chance to reflect and share ideas about what is and isn’t working in my classroom. I’ve gained a lot of ideas for activities, classroom setup and philosophies. My mentor has also been such an amazing support system, I’m so grateful for her!
I came into teaching after a pretty major career shift away from commercial diving. I was, admittedly, very nervous about teaching early childhood since I was so used to training adults in my previous role. I was pleasantly surprised by the huge amount of support that I received through this program and, because of that, I was able to become really comfortable and find my rhythm as a PreK teacher!