Day 7 Blog Challenge

The question of the day is: Who was or is your most inspirational colleague, and why?

I did read a few other blog posts about this and I have to say that I do agree that many of our colleagues are inspirational at different times and in different ways.  Over my 14 years of teaching, I have learned so much from my colleagues - from how to handle parents, award participation points and other gradebook issues, to decorating my classroom.  And to each and every one of them, I am grateful.

I have always been a high school teacher. That was until my wife and I created Italian Language Littles, a program where we teach Italian to children ages 2 and up.  At first, I handled the business aspects of the program- accounting, advertising, the web site and talking with clients. I did help my wife throughout her lessons by cuing music and handing out whatever was needed for the craft as well as snack.  As our business grew from 8 students to 30+ today, we had to make a decision on how we would handle this. Hiring another teacher was not cost-effective and so if we were to continue, I would have to step out of my comfort zone and begin teaching as well.  The idea of teaching children that ranged in age from 4 - 7 scared me.  How did I get through this? As I sat at the computer to prepare my first lessons, I thought about how my wife had taught the classes and I realized then that she was the best example I had had over the few years we were in business.  Of course, I cannot BE her and she cannot be me.  Her example has helped me more than probably she even knows.  I have now been teaching all ages from 3 year-olds to adults for some time and I feel confident that I am doing a good job.  So, for this reason, I would say that the most inspirational colleague I have had has been my wife, Teresa.