Episode 89: 5 Takeaways From Helping Thousands of Educators Beyond the Classroom

In this episode, I share five takeaways that I've learned from helping thousands of educators who find work beyond the classroom. This episode is for everyone, such as the teacher who wants to stay a teacher and expand their impact beyond the classroom, or transition out of the classroom. Having helped thousands of teachers, I found that all teachers are unique and different in their own ways. We all have different experiences and areas of expertise and dreams. But there are some similarities. So in my five takeaways, I want you to think about what resonates with you.

 
 
 
 
 

Read the transcript for this episode:

Welcome to Educator Forever, where we empower teachers to innovate education. Join us each week to hear stories of teachers expanding their impacts beyond the classroom and explore ways to reimagine teaching and learning.

In this episode, I want to share five takeaways that I've learned from helping 1000s of educators who find work beyond the classroom. So whether you're a teacher who wants to stay a teacher, and expand your impact beyond the classroom, or transition out of the classroom, I think that you can learn from these takeaways. And having helped thousands of teachers, I found that of course, all teachers are unique and different in their own ways. We all have different experiences and areas of expertise and dreams. But there are some similarities. So in my five takeaways, I want you to think about what resonates with you.

The first takeaway is that teachers are education experts. I talked about this in last week's podcast episode, and it's so true. We are education experts. We know so much about education. So take the time to reflect on what have you learned? What is your unique expertise that you bring to the table? And then you need to position your skills in ways that people resonate with? So yes, you are an education expert. And yes, you have to tell the story of your experience in the classroom. And you have to connect it to the jobs that you hope to land, or the opportunities that you hope to get. So really think about, what have you learned as a classroom teacher? And why is it relevant to what you want to do next, and then your resume and your cover letter and your interview? These are all chances to tell that story. And to connect it to what the person who's hiring or giving you the opportunity you want, what they want, how are you going to help them. So this is all an experiment.

It's something that you learn by doing it, which leads me to my second takeaway, taking action, imperfect action is the most important thing to do. So often, we feel like it has to be completely perfect before we try something. And honestly, that will never happen. So recognize when you're procrastinating. Sometimes people think they need to get a master's degree before they start working in curriculum design. Great if you want to get your Masters, but you don't need to do that. Taking the action is the most important thing. So try out doing what you want to do try out pitching yourself, it's probably going to be awkward the first few times you do it. But we all have to go through that the only way out is through. So you need to take action and consistent action. And really recognize when you might be procrastinating and kind of fling yourself into the world of what you want to do and learn through that action.

Which then leads me to my next takeaway, that anything you don't know, you can learn? Yes, you have valuable education experience. But also, there are probably going to be many things that you need to learn. So for example, if you transition into work in curriculum design, this is a whole new genre of writing. And there's amazing research and pedagogy around curriculum design. So you do need to learn some of that. But that's absolutely possible. So really recognizing your expertise, and your expertise as a teacher as being such an asset. When it comes to learning, you can create a learning plan for yourself, you can find the information that you need to learn. So go out and do that. Embrace learning, just because you might not know all the things you need to be successful in a field, you can learn it, don't let that lack stop you from learning the thing. And then my next takeaway is that it takes time and work to create the life you want. But it's so possible. So I really want to normalize struggle. It is hard, it's hard to try something new. It's hard to present your skills in different ways. It's hard to really connect your teaching experience to another position. But it's absolutely possible. And so really digging your feet in doing the work. And being along for the ride can be so rewarding, because I guarantee that you're going to learn so much about yourself in the process. And there really aren't shortcuts. We learn through the entire journey. You learn every time you don't get a job that you want. You learn every time you try out doing something and it's challenging. So embrace the learning and really know that there are so many possibilities for you.

And then the last takeaway is that community makes all the difference. When you are around people who can show you the possibilities it becomes was real. You see the other people are doing amazing work in education and are doing flexible work in education and are expanding their impact. And it's so inspiring. Running our educator forever network community has been so personally inspiring to me. I started the community to really show teachers all the things that we can do in education. And now I'm being shown all the time, all these other things that educators are doing and creating. And it's so powerful to be a part of such an engaged and engaging community. So whether you'd like to try out the educator forever network, we'd love to have you check it out, or find your own community. It is imperative that you are around people and surround yourself with people who see and value your dreams. Your dreams are possible. And there are a lot of people who will tell you that they aren't. But that's really about them. So you get to decide who are you going to surround yourself with that boost you up, and that help you really achieve your dreams. So to recap, the five big takeaways that I've learned from helping 1000s of educators beyond the classroom our number one, teachers are education experts, and we need to position our skills in ways that people resonate with. Number two, taking action is most important and recognize when you might not be taking action and procrastinating instead. Number three, anything you don't know you can learn. You are a teacher, you are an education expert. You know how to learn things. Number four, it takes time and work to create the life you want. But it is so possible, embrace the struggle. And then number five community makes all the difference.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Lily Jones