Stepping Stones: My Journey to Becoming a Literacy Consultant- Step One

From the Desk of Hope….

I work with teachers in some capacity almost everyday. A very common question I am asked is, “how did you become a literacy consultant?” followed by a comment along the lines of, “I want to become one, too!”   I have decided to take a deep dive into my past and reflect on how I got to this place as a literacy consultant and as co-owner of Education Resource Group (ERG).

I will be writing a series of blogs in memoir type form. I have labeled this series Stepping Stones because I want to think about this in terms of a step by step process. I am actually still taking steps and will probably always will be since I consider myself a life long learner.

I started teaching school when I was 22 years old and I knew that I wanted to be the BEST TEACHER EVER! I was Ms. Edwards at that time and I went to school each day feeling like I was getting paid for not working. I loved kids (still do) and I stood by the door each day intentionally saying something personal and positive to each of my students as they walked through the door.

What a pretty dress!

You got your hair cut last night… it looks great! 

Are you ready to do some learning today?

I looked each one of them in the eye to let them know I was engaged and cared about them as individuals.

I took great pride in my job as a teacher.  As I reflect on it, I think I was a “workaholic”.   I was the first one in the building and the housekeeper would kick me out when he was locking the door each day to close down the school.   I would take work home and set a time for myself to stop working.

I threw myself into teaching with all my heart and soul. I worked endlessly on good lesson plans, I read incessantly about how to be an effective teacher and I looked for opportunities to grow as a teacher leader.  I didn’t have a clear picture of where I would land 20 years later but I knew that hard work (a gift from my mother) and a deep understanding of teaching and learning would pay off and get me where I was going even though I didn’t know that destination at that time.

Step One: Strive to be the very best teacher that you can be….it will pay off!