TL;DR:
- Rebecca shares her journey about becoming a Teach Better Ambassador and what it means to her to belong to a family of educators who have become friends.
- She shares things she has learned that have changed her teaching.
Ambassador Love
My Teach Better journey started with my mentor, Colissa Jordan. She knew that Ambassadors would be the group for me way before I did. Eight months later, Colissa told me to apply to be a Teach Better Ambassador. I became a member in June of 2020.
To be honest, I was skeptical. I’d been connected for less than a year, and she wanted me to be an ambassador ALREADY?
I just started learning about Standards Based Grading (SBG) with Dave Schmittou and I bought his Making Assessments Work for Educators who Hate Data but LOVE Kids book. I was quickly becoming his number 1 fan and I did not feel ready to be an ambassador.
“I just started teaching. There’s no way that I have anything of value to share with others,” I thought to myself. But the fact that my mentor thought I was ready pulled a lot of weight. So, I decided to take the leap and apply. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
***Spoiler Alert***
The most amazing thing happened! I felt empowered, hopeful, and reenergized. I felt the way I did in college when I first fell in love with the profession. I felt unstoppable and invincible!
To be an ambassador is more than a network of educators. They are a family. They are a group of genuine friends. They are a constant in inconstant pandemic teaching years. Click To TweetThe Ambassador Family: More Than a Network of Educators
I’ve been an ambassador for a little over a year now, and I have not regretted my decision. I continued my SBG journey with not just Dave Schmittou, but I was introduced to another rock star, Katelynn Giordano! Can I be a number 1 fan for two people?!?!? If you have not seen the Focus on the Focus series, it is a MUST!
Being a part of the Ambassador family is more than exclusive PDs, book clubs, and zoom hangouts. It’s a group of educators to blow off steam with. To laugh at corny dad jokes and puns. To get support when you had a rough day. To seek career advice. To have someone to talk to during the insomnia nights filled with worry, self-doubt, and dread. To know that you are not alone.
To be an ambassador is more than a network of educators. They are a family. They are a group of genuine friends. They are a constant in inconstant pandemic teaching years.
Becoming an ambassador was the best decision I have made in my teaching career, and I have grown as an educator because of it. I’ve been able to talk about and defend my teaching practices. I am constantly looking for ways to improve my teaching and the ambassadors have helped me do that.
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Things I’ve learned that have changed my teaching.
- Grades are a way to communicate progress towards mastery; they should not be used as currency.
- Learning is not linear.
- Late points can oftentimes misrepresent what the student actually understands. Yet, keeping students accountable is still necessary. (I’m still trying to find that balance.)
” – Nilmini Ratwatte-Henstridge
About Rebecca Huff
Rebecca Huff is a former journalist and 2nd year teacher. She currently teaches 9th and 11th grade English at Edgewood High School in Trenton, Ohio. She enjoys learning new teaching strategies and methods that can be implemented in her classroom to meet the needs of all her students. Rebecca has a passion for writing, teaching, and growing as an educator. She firmly believes that learning never stops and teaching the soft skills are equally as important as the content. She strives to prepare her students for any career path that they choose.
