What is Your Professional Dream?

Yesterday was Kindergarten WOW Day, nothing out of the ordinary for teachers at Chets Creek. However, something that happened within the day was unique. Literacy coach, dayle timmons, wrapped up the session sharing dreams for the future.

The lights dimmed, the video started, the music sounded, the room became silent. The fourteen kindergarten learning leaders listened attentively as she shared the Power of the Dream video. (Ok, it wasn't quite this perfect with the buffering time...but it is the idea!) Moreover, when the video ended, she asked them, “What is your professional dream?” “Where do you see yourself in five years from now?”

Individually, one by one, the teachers shared their professional dreams. They included dreams of completing National Board Certification, bridging the gap between college classrooms and our classrooms, inviting more educators into their classroom, finishing Master Degrees, mentoring interns, and joining an inner city school staff to help struggling students.

You see, all too often, it is easy to get consumed by the work and focus so inventively that we lose site of building relationships with our colleagues. Sometimes, to move forward, we have to stand back, assist teachers in reflecting, and ask those we coach, “What is your dream?” “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

Providing these opportunities for teachers to vocalize their aspirations allows us to build a bond with them, and them with each other. We are all in this together, and knowing where they hope to go will create the avenue for us to understand them as people and assist them in achieving their goals.