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I am quite proud to have been a teacher for thirty-eight years…

I came to teaching quite by accident… I always had an interest in the arts; perhaps becoming a fashion designer…

Happy Life Moment…Dream Maker…My family together at Aunt’s wedding… I was the flower girl…

However, overcoming my own challenging childhood… Parents divorcing early in my life…I was called upon to take care of myself…Due to my mother’s work… I had to get myself to school each morning…I was a latchkey child…In addition to that responsibility, I had a sister who was six years older, with mental health issues… I felt my mother was relying on me to look after her…

My early life, definitely lead me to the realization….I had a tremendous need to helping others….

So, in my senior year of high school, I made the decision to become a social worker, and attend Florida State University, in Tallahassee…In sharing my decision with an uncle…It was he who suggested, becoming a teacher, because it would better suit me… He believed it was….

A more stable career for a young woman...

Following this insight; One particular day that I will never forget, in my senior English class at Miami High School…My favorite, pretty, young teacher, Ms. Kempler, commented that she liked my dress!… She said that it reminded her of the University of Florida… It was the University’s colors of “orange and blue“…

Wow, I so appreciated her comment!.. Back then because of my personal life, I never felt noticed … Ms. Kempler did notice me!

Ms. Kempler had gone to the University of Florida; in a town called Gainesville… I had never even heard of, until this very moment…Well… my decision becoming a teacher, was made that day in 1966 my senior year, and go to the University of Florida, just like Ms. Kemper!

Thank you,

Dear Ms Kempler

Soon after, that February in 1967…my mother died unexpectedly, but before she passed…

I shared with her the news, in the hospital, that I was just accepted to the University of Florida, and made her a promise that day, I would go to college!

The road was definitely not easy…Living with friends until this challenging high school year ended… Graduation, and then working that summer in New York where my father was living…Monies earned would help with college expenses… College funds were minimal…

I would be beginning my college career alone … My best friend’s mother saw me off at the Miami Seaboard Train Station August,1967…I Arrived on campus in a taxi… alone … Watching everyone with their families , and I by myself and determination…

My early college school years were quite difficult… I was even told by a college advisor…I did not belong because of my test scores…Yet, I was determined to prove them wrong …And I feel so blessed…I was determined…I succeeded… Even getting married young, while attending college; and having my daughter,…

March of 1972 I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education…

Doing it with self- determination and blessed with college grants and loans, and food stamps…

Then immediately, getting my first teaching job…April 1, 1972…Traveling 90 miles a day just to teach…

Now as I reflect on my thirty-eight years; I am quite proud of all accomplished…

I have taught so many children from grades ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade; dating back from “1972”, up to my last year, retiring in “2015” …And spending more than twenty-five years in first grade…

I also went on to get a Masters of Science in Administration from an accelerated program from Nova University…an opportunity I felt would enrich my teaching journey …

And then later, I even had a wonderful opportunity teaching a college seminar for beginning teachers back at the University of Florida, while on a paid sabbatical working on an advanced course work in counseling education…I felt like I was living dream my mother had for me…

And I have never looked back… Becoming a teacher was the most important decision I made to channel my passion for helping…

Thanks to my mother, and those that believed in my determination... I was teaching our young precious children!!…

“How I hope my students can still remember back to the time they spent in my class so many years ago, and remember that love I have for them, smile warmly at some of the memories, and definitely have the confidence in themselves that they can amount to everything they put their minds”…

And…now more than ever…I will always advocate for our children…

“Reflections”… My Journey Does Continue…

Quote• Posted on by Janis Sexton
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First posted back in 2013…Almost ten years ago…I was close to my retirement in 2015… thirty-eight years dedicated to teaching young children…

Being reminded …

Teaching our children has always been impacted by the political climate…And back ten years ago… Funding definitely was an issue making our profession less of the regard it deserves…

And truthfully, even back when I began in 1972…We did have that critical moment because of the political policies of the sixties…

Integration and a strong focus on the young child were given that priority…

We were needed, and in demand!! We had so many of us wanting to become teachers…I was willing to travel ninety miles a day just to teach…

We had such Hope!!…I so believe, we go into teaching because it is a calling.. “our passion”…

Here we are, 2022…Our teachers are dealing with insurmountable obstacles… pandemic, staggered teaching… shortages with staff… political interference …

Yet, teachers still put their “Heart” into teaching!!

The joy I get from my children each year, has sustained me all these many years…

I have so loved their special writings and pictures; and personal, little notes…that some, I have even saved over the years…

That many of the momentos are displayed in my home and classroom that my children have given to me through the years…

I can even say that I do have a place setting for twelve, in “teacher mugs”…

I have truly loved reconnecting with former students, and I may still have that special momento they have given to me…

In fact, there are those special parents that I taught, now with their own children, at the very school where I am presently teaching first grade…

I feel such joy, I am still remembered…And see who they became!

All of which are part of my…World of Teaching, that resides in my heart and memory…

The joys of teaching are impactful… I feel so blessed to have touched their lives…

The Joys of Teaching…

Quote• Posted on by Janis Sexton
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Posted in Mission, Reflections, Thoughts About Children

Big Brother in our Classrooms?…

Posted on by Janis Sexton

Our Florida schools have been dealing with such an authoritative control… Making it quite challenging for teachers to feel secure, safe and even continue to teach…We have a critical shortage here in Florida…

And moreover our precious children suffer the consequences!!

First, back in the nineties, it was the “No Child Left Behind Movement” where children were being classified by a standardized test, taught from developmentally inappropriate curriculum…

That outcome led to the privatization of schools, taking resources and funds away from our our public schools… giving it to private and charter schools, And we still are grappling with these issues today!!

And in these last twenty year, safety issues have been a major concern for schools…where arming teachers was one of the solutions…And since the pandemic, social media influences, and the divisive of our Country, has gotten much worse…

Thus leading to what many school districts teach…Controlling what children learn in classrooms… Especially when it comes to history!!

Florida Lawmaker Files Bill To Put Cameras In Classrooms & Mics On Teachers – CBS Miami…

Author: Jacqueline Quynh
January 12, 2022 at 11:14 pm
Filed Under: Broward County Public Schools, Jacqueline Quynh, Local TV, Miami News

https://cbsloc.al/34C9Bbe


FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – While lawmakers in Tallahassee debate a new proposal to allow schools districts to put cameras in classrooms, a select few in Broward County Public Schools already have them.

“That is happening right now, yeah,” Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco said.

According to the Broward County Public Schools website, parents of a student can request a camera system with visual and audio capability be placed in a classroom if the child is a student with a disability and is an individualized education program from where the majority of the students have a disability. This came into existence after Florida House Bill 149 passed in July 2021.

“And it’s not in every classroom. We have parents that have not exercised that right. It’s kind of two fold. If one parent wants it, the camera goes in the room. If the other 10 parents don’t want it, they don’t have a say,” she said.

“Everything that happens in a classroom is monitored and watched and heard all day. There is absolutely zero privacy for anybody, even when the students are in the room and the teacher needs to do a parent conference on the phone,” Fusco said..

The bill filed by Rep. Bob Rommel, a Republican out of Naples, is proposing to allow districts to adopt policies that could install cameras in classrooms and require teachers to wear microphones for all students.

“I think if we can do it in a safe way to protect the privacy of students and teachers I think we should do it. I haven’t heard a response good or bad from any teachers but you know what it’s not their private space, it’s our children’s space too,” Rep. Rommel, R-District 160, said.

“It can be looked at any time. We don’t know how they’re going to keep in in record, so they never get that piece out, and also the funding, there is no funding,” Fusco said.

However, should there be a window into a student’s classroom in the first place?

“You want to play Big Brother every moment? That’s not how society should be. We need to get back to where we have trust, we have value, we have faith we have conversations, and we can work things out if something happens,” Fusco said.

The bill is still currently in the house…

Big Brother???

https://miami.cbslocal.com/2022/01/12/florida-lawmaker-bill-cameras-classrooms-mics-teachers/?amp

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Hope through the challenges…

Todays educators dealing with the realities…Most definitely need to be addressed;

And our precious children must be that priority!!!

I am hoping 2022…Will be that year!!! Our children must be safe and provided the critical resources to make the learning happen…

New Year Message.. Secretary of Education… Miguel Cardona

Quote• Posted on by Janis Sexton