Who I Am



Who I Am StoryI am from a family of educators. My grandmother and mother taught school, and my father was a high school principal for 20 years and is now a consultant of school improvement and aspiring leaders. I am a product of several strong mentors who have allowed me to learn and develop as an educator through them.I hear people belittling others and intentionally making fun of them. As I have gotten older, I find myself more apt to take up for the defenseless and stand up for those who are victims, however, I often internalize the mistreatment I receive.I see how education has changed for the better since I was in the role of a student. Students in productive, “safe” classrooms are more active participants through varied instructional methods, technology, decision-making, and personal assessment. In the same thought, I see how this change as added more pressure to students and may cause them to develop lower self-concepts. I feel the words that Carrie Underwood and Eric Clapton sing and believe that this is our “Temporary Home,” and that there are no “Tears in Heaven.”I pretend that my daughter is my student and teach as if I would want her to be instructed and guided as an individual. I also pretend that my administrators, GSU students, and protégés are in my classroom, so that I will be my very best. I cry when I receive test scores that do not reflect student mastery. I question myself, my effectiveness, and my awareness. Did I do my very best? Did I work wisely? Did the students do their best? I know that the eight hours that students are with me at school may be the happiest time of their day, therefore, I need to provide a challenging, caring, creative, and positive environment in which I am consistent with my mood and behaviors and students are successful. I am a reciter of motivational quotes to myself silently and aloud to students and athletes. Some of my favorites include:“Small-minded people talk about people. Large-minded individuals reflect on ideas and events.”“Cherish life’s simple pleasures.”“Tough times never last but tough people do.”“Make it a great day!”“God never promised us a life without strife, but He did promise that we would never be alone.”“Fake it ‘till you make it.” “He who is harmony with himself, is in harmony with the universe.”I believe that people may not remember what you taught them, but they will remember how you taught them and how you made them feel. I believe that students are often more intuitive than adults because they are not as hurried and overwhelmed in our “microwave society.” I touch the heart of others daily and perform random acts of kindness. This is a strength of mine, and I live by the golden rule: Treat others how you want to be treated. As I have gotten older, I realize that many people are more interested in advancing themselves than touching other people. I try to teach to the best of my ability every day. I try to tell myself that acknowledgement and recognition for a job well-done are not necessary, but I realize that I need that emotional reassurance occasionally to maximum my potential as a teacher and person. I “taste” the feeling of student success academically and emotionally, and I crave more! I also taste coffee, sweets, pizza, and chips and dip and want more! I truly could make a meal off of sweets.I fear losing the love and energy for teaching. I fear lying my head down at night and knowing that I did not work to the best of my ability for the students that day; it is this fear and the desire to serve that keeps my stamina and contentment for teaching alive.I say I aspire to be an effective teacher-leader. I say I am interested in pursuing leadership opportunities in curriculum. I say I am a “nut about data”; I enjoy reading data, analyzing it, and devising a plan to target needed subgroups and skills. I am the wife of Jared B. Rahn, a 2000 graduate of ECHS, a mother to Nora Cate Rahn, an aunt to four nephews and three nieces, a watcher of “Crisley Knows Best,” “Dance Moms,” “Mysteries at the Museum,” and reruns of “The Golden Girls.” I am a newcomer to country-life, four-wheeler riding, mud-bogging, riding in really, really loud, high trucks (See picture below!) and cows mooing when I walk outside of my house, however, I am getting used to it and like it. ................
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