Contents
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3 EDITOR'S NOTE Here we are publishing our first official issue. Wow! I am super excited because I know our Education Jamaica Magazine community is in for an inspiring ride.
7 INSPIRATION WILL GET YOU THERE Whatever motivates you and gives you that drive to move forward, once it is healthy and has a positive impact on you, I say go for it.
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LAMOYA JOHNSON - MULLINGS Educating and Inspiring Jamaica
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KIMBERLY-ANN THOMAS-BONNER
HEALTHY HABITS FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Her aim is zero divorces among these wives and to save their marriages, just as she did hers, which is now very strong after 4 years.
Just as we dedicate ourselves to everything else, the brain ought to be taken care of, as it is one of the heads of department at the table of our bodily functions.
DON'T BE A POUR THING, BE THE THING
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ETTIQUETTE MATTERS In spite of what we think and how we operate, etiquette matters. What say you?
Education Jamaica
Publisher Constance Walcott
Editor In Chief & Designer Writers & Editors Lyssaun Howell Crystal Barnett- Marshall Shanieka Smith Monique Bailey-Allen Andrene Campbell-Perkins Natanish Hines Toni Barrett Sasha Robins
Special Thanks O'Jae Adlam Nackadian Jones Shanese Jones Kaylia Davis Rehanna Reid
Cover Design
Copyright © 2022. All rights reserved. Please contact educationewsja@gmail.com for permission to use this material.
Inspiration will Take You There By Toni Barrett (Guidance Counsellor)
“Challenges are what make life interesting, overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine. When we overcome challenges within our lives we have been inspired by someone or something to do so. We cannot go through life without an ounce of inspiration, so today we are here to highlight ten ways we can become inspired in this journey called life. Prayer - as a Christian I believe talking to God is quite important. It’s best to receive inspiration from the source of inspiration Himself. For ages, God has inspired men and women who believed in him and he has used them to write books e.g. the Bible, which we use today as our ultimate guide. 7 | Education Jamaica
Job/Career- what we choose to do for the rest of our lives often reflects our personalities. It shows what we’re most interested in and this motivates us to get up every day and be there to serve in whatever capacity. A job/career serves as a continuous inspiration to us as we work towards achieving different things in our lives that only through honest work we can obtain the reward we deserve. Music - music has a great influence on the nation as it relates to the choices we make. If you like a particular genre of music, you will realize the impact it has on your life and it often reflects the principles for which you stand for. Some individuals listen to music as a form of motivation to get things done, and some even use it as a push to make a particular decision. Movie - movies are stories told to us in the form of acting. There are many meaningful movies in the world that open our minds to endless possibilities, some of which we knew but would doubt existed. The actors portray common people most of the time who experience similar problems we can relate to and we recognize ways and tactics to deal with or solve them. Most of the time movies include a conflict and in the end, have some form of resolution, whether we agree or not. What we see is wired to our brains, therefore, giving us the hope that we too can achieve or run from anything life throws at us. Tradition - reflecting on the past and how it has helped to shape your values and beliefs is in its own way a form of inspiration. The different traditions our household upholds motivate us to keep them alive or to move away from them. Whatever the case maybe it has some form of influence on the decisions we make and the reason for making them.
Reading- there is wisdom in words that are hidden in a book. If only we took the time to read them. While we may have face-to-face conversations with persons we know, we can learn from persons we don’t know through their books, blogs, articles and posts. Reading is fun and it’s one of the best ways to learn and communicate. When we read, we must comprehend in order to give feedback. The words from things we read might be fiction or non-fiction, but they do play their part in inspiring us to move forward by doing the best we can. We learn from our experiences but also the experiences of others through reading. Talking to someone - we all have someone we can talk to when we feel like all the sparkle inside us is getting dull. Who is that person for you? Talking to that person feels like a vehicle receiving a jumpstart or medicine that makes you better. That person knows not failure when it comes to you and to them, you can do anything you put your mind to. We all need that someone we can count on to remind us of how awesome we are. The one who motivates us to be and do our best, despite a little downtime experience.
We are all going somewhere and inspiration will take us there. Whatever motivates you and gives you that drive to move forward, once it is healthy and has a positive impact on you, I say go for it. Be inspired and stay inspired as you navigate this life.
Self- inspiration - this is associated with intrinsic motivation: the inner drive to get things done. Some person’s source of inspiration might be from outward interactions and experiences, but some persons find that same zest within themselves. We must, at some point in our lives, find the willpower to stimulate motivation within us to get something done. It can be due to the things we encounter or the things that we witness happening. Whatever category you find yourself in, self-inspiration is one of the most powerful tools you can use in moving forward toward your goals, dreams and aspirations. Listening to others - the experiences of others are sometimes what drives us to persevere. As I write, I reflect on the award-winning show “Profile” in Jamaica where people share their stories of life growing up, and compare them to where they are now. Most, if not all, had many struggles but knew within themselves what they wanted to conquer. Listening to these stories helps us understand that we are not the first, nor will we be the last, to encounter many drawbacks in our lives after countless times of trying. Listening to these experiences gives us the hope that we too can overcome our struggles within our own time. Travelling/Change of environment - Bandura speaks about the environment influencing our behaviour and thinking and all affecting each other. Therefore what better way to inspire yourself than by giving yourself a different scenery. If we remain in a place where there is no room for motivation how can remain motivated. Sometimes we have to get up and physically move away to become a part of a new atmosphere to achieve the things we need. Take for example the recent pandemic that allowed us to work and attend school from home. Since the reopening of school and the release of the work from the home mandate, we realize the vast difference in our behaviour and thinking.
COLUMN - TOP TIPS TUESDAYS
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8 Questions with:
SASHA ROBINS Instructional Coach
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“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”-Arthur Ashe. The aforementioned quote is just one hint to describe Sasha’s amazing journey. Sasha is a former English educator who transitioned successfully into an Instructional Coach. She came to the realisation that this is her calling and has been flourishing since. Sasha began her journey to greatness straight out of college and has not stopped since. She will expound on how she went from being in a box to being in a world filled with endless opportunities. Sasha has shared some important details about her successful journey that can inspire the toughest of minds. Let us explore her journey together.
Tell us a little about your professional journey.
Straight out of university, I started teaching at Kingston College as a teacher of English Language and Literature. When I think about how and why I became a teacher, it had nothing to do with inspiration or a long-held dream. It was a sheer necessity. I was not about to sit at home after I graduated from university, so I took the first job that came along: teaching. After many years of trials and errors, I am now thankful that I became a teacher. I eventually found purpose and joy in my work and returned to university to become trained in secondary education. In 2016, I left Jamaica feeling the need to grow and expand as a teacher by taking on the challenge of teaching in a completely alien environment. I was ready for a new challenge. In Kuwait, I worked as a teacher until 2019, improving my instructional practice, primarily because of my work with an instructional coach. That work inspired me to switch lanes in education and to focus on helping teachers improve their practice. I became a certified Instructional Coach and I have spent the last three years doing work that I’m even more excited about because it allows me to impact both teachers and students.
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What would you say is your major source of motivation?
Definitely being able to be a partner to teachers. Teaching can be such an isolating experience. The perception is that as a teacher, you should be a master of your craft immediately. While the truth is that many teachers have doubts about their practice or would like to have a thinking partner to take on ambitious goals they have for themselves and their students. Being able to support a teacher and students simultaneously and see both stakeholders experience the joy of growth and change is exhilarating to me.
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Describe your transition from the classroom to an Instructional Coach.
Coaching is a great source of joy for me, but it was not easy to make that transition from teaching to coaching. Coaching requires you to provide non-evaluative leadership and curriculum planning, provide feedback and guidance on observed instruction, and lead professional learning, in addition to developing the disposition that every coach needs. I had my doubts about being able to be that person. Teachers’ schedules are driven by the timetable, lesson planning, making and administering assessments etc. Now I had to figure out how I was going to gain coaching clients. I questioned my ability to help teachers. It was challenging the first year.
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How would you describe your role as an Instructional Coach?
I describe myself as a progress partner. I work with my partners to create professional joy because I believe it’s possible to experience joy by doing work that matters. I visualise it as a journey where my partner (s) and I are on a quest towards a common growth goal. My role in the partnership is not to provide solutions but listen intentionally in order to ask the right question at the perfect time. Sharing strengths and ideas, providing feedback and the space for reflection.
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What inspired you to become an Instructional Coach?
What would you say is most fulfilling about being a Coach?
I had a great coach who was a confidant and partner. Through our many collaborations, I saw myself grow as a teacher in ways I had not imagined. I admired his ability to ask powerful questions that allowed me to elicit answers within myself. I wanted to be that kind of coach. Someone who helps to create transformation in teacher practice and student growth.
Seeing teachers and students take on a growth goal that involves productive struggle, and being resilient enough to keep going till they achieve success and can joyfully celebrate.
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How has your work as an Instructional Coach impacted educators and students?
When I work with teachers we start with a goal in mind that the teacher finds meaningful. We gather and analyse data in order to shape our instruction. We identify research-backed high impact strategies that can propel students towards the goal and we monitor and reflect on the process as we go along, and if necessary we make changes as they are needed. Working in this way is proven to result in student growth. I have seen students who were very weak in a specific skill work hard and achieve success. The growth I have seen in kids is not just academic, but growth in resilience, and selfconfidence. Our work with students should not just produce grades, If that’s all we are improving then we are failing our kids and ourselves. Ron Berger says our work should have an impact beyond the classroom. He describes it as beautiful work. That’s what I keep striving for. 18 | Education Jamaica
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Describe your transition from the classroom to an Instructional Coach.
Coaching is a great source of joy for me, but it was not easy to make that transition from teaching to coaching. Coaching requires you to provide non-evaluative leadership, and curriculum plan, provide feedback and guidance on observed instruction and lead professional learning. In addition, developing the disposition that every coach needs. I had my doubts that I could be that person. Teachers’ schedules are driven by the timetable, lesson planning, making and administering assessments etc. Now I had to figure out how I was going to gain coaching clients, I questioned my ability to help teachers. It was challenging the first year.