This week’s Aha Moment is shared by Aviva Dunsiger, also known on Twitter as @grade1, and she is a a Grade 1 teacher in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. She is an active member of my PLN who helps many teachers both new and old. She taught Kindergarten for eight years before making the move to Grade 1. Aviva loves using various Web 2.0 tools in her classroom to make learning more meaningful for students. As she says: Through my Grade 1 Website, Grade 1 Blog, Professional Blog, and Student Blogs, I share my own learning with others, and my students share their learning too. Many thanks to Pernille Ripp (@4thGrdTeach) for asking me to do the Guest Blog Post this week. I’m excited to share my Aha Moment with all of you!
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to teach. When I was in Kindergarten and Grade 1, I used to pretend to play school, and I even wrote my lessons on the wall. There’s a house somewhere in Thornhill, Ontario that still has my Process Writing Lesson on the wall underneath numerous coats of paint.:)
School never came easily for me though, and while I always worked hard, I never seemed to make the grade. In Grade 2, I had a Psych Assessment done, and I found out that I had a non-verbal learning disability. I will never forgot the feedback from that Psych Assessment: I was told that due to the severity of my learning disability, I would always struggle with school, and I would be lucky if I even made it to college. In other words, forget about university, and forget about my dreams of becoming a teacher. I was devastated!
Looking back now, I guess that I could have given up at that point. I never did though. Despite having a really significant learning disability, I also had some really significant strengths. I learned how to capitalize on those strengths. My mom and step-dad helped teach me strategies to be successful in the classroom and to advocate for myself so that I got the accommodations that I needed to be successful too. I always spent double the amount of time on the homework as my peers, and in certain subjects, like geography, the lessons would often lead to tears and frustration, but I never gave up. I wanted to teach!
Thanks to self-advocacy, amazing support from home, and strategies that really worked, I ended up graduating from high-school on the honour roll, and I even got a scholarship to university. It was when I got the phone call from the President of Nipissing University offering me a Presidential Scholarship and a place in the Bachelor of Arts and Introduction to Teaching Program, that I had my Aha Moment: anyone can learn! As teachers, we just need to find a way to ensure that all students do learn. I cannot thank my wonderful teachers enough: they didn’t give up on me, and as a result, I never gave up on myself.
This is my tenth year teaching, and every year, I get a new group of students and a new opportunity to make a difference. My own experience has taught me that we can never give up on our students, and that we need to find a way to ensure that all of them succeed. At the bottom of all of my e-mails, I have this signature: “If they don’t learn the way you teach, teach the way they learn.” I am thankful for the teachers that did just this for me, and I will always do this for my students too!
School never came easily for me though, and while I always worked hard, I never seemed to make the grade. In Grade 2, I had a Psych Assessment done, and I found out that I had a non-verbal learning disability. I will never forgot the feedback from that Psych Assessment: I was told that due to the severity of my learning disability, I would always struggle with school, and I would be lucky if I even made it to college. In other words, forget about university, and forget about my dreams of becoming a teacher. I was devastated!
Looking back now, I guess that I could have given up at that point. I never did though. Despite having a really significant learning disability, I also had some really significant strengths. I learned how to capitalize on those strengths. My mom and step-dad helped teach me strategies to be successful in the classroom and to advocate for myself so that I got the accommodations that I needed to be successful too. I always spent double the amount of time on the homework as my peers, and in certain subjects, like geography, the lessons would often lead to tears and frustration, but I never gave up. I wanted to teach!
Thanks to self-advocacy, amazing support from home, and strategies that really worked, I ended up graduating from high-school on the honour roll, and I even got a scholarship to university. It was when I got the phone call from the President of Nipissing University offering me a Presidential Scholarship and a place in the Bachelor of Arts and Introduction to Teaching Program, that I had my Aha Moment: anyone can learn! As teachers, we just need to find a way to ensure that all students do learn. I cannot thank my wonderful teachers enough: they didn’t give up on me, and as a result, I never gave up on myself.
This is my tenth year teaching, and every year, I get a new group of students and a new opportunity to make a difference. My own experience has taught me that we can never give up on our students, and that we need to find a way to ensure that all of them succeed. At the bottom of all of my e-mails, I have this signature: “If they don’t learn the way you teach, teach the way they learn.” I am thankful for the teachers that did just this for me, and I will always do this for my students too!
Pernille Ripp 
Excellent post Aviva! Your career is definitely a testimony to the fact that anyone can learn! My PLN is much stronger because of you, and I'm so glad you didn't let your learning disability get in the way of all of your learning abilities!Thanks for sharing with us!
Thanks for the comment, David! I really appreciate all of your support. I think that my PLN is stronger because of you too!Aviva
Wow Aviva! What an inspiring Aha Moment. Anyone can learn! So true. We must give every kid a chance. We can't give up and we can't let kids give up either.You're an awesome educator, your students are so lucky to have you! Thanks for sharing your touching story with us!
Thanks for the comment, Greta! It's clear when communicating with you that you really do believe that all students can learn, and that you give all students the opportunity to learn too. Your students are very lucky to have you, and I feel very fortunate to learn from you too!Aviva
Aviva,An inspiration to anyone with a learning disability or who has ever been confronted by the negative and low expectations of others.
Thanks Matt for the comment! That really means a lot. I think that this has definitely taught me that we need to have "high expectations" for all students.Aviva
What a wonderful post Aviva! Definitely your experience is a lesson of life, it teaches to never give up, anyone can learn. The will inside us is stronger than anything else. I'm lucky to have you in my PLN. I've been learning a lot from you. Thanks Aviva for sharing your Aha's Moment with us.Luciana Podschun@inglesinteract
Thanks for your comment, Luciana! This moment has definitely helped define me as a teacher, and I think make me a better teacher too. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the post, and I'm so glad to have you as part of my PLN too!Aviva
Aviva,Thank you for sharing this moment with the world and mostly with me. Whenever I ask someone to share their aha moment, I never know what I am going to get. The moments are always great, they always make me think, and I nod my head in agreement when I read them. Yours I nodded my head and then told my husband about it. Many things strike a chord with me ass teacher but one of the big ones is your message; any child can learn! And how dare some teachers take it upon themselves to tell children that they cannot learn because of something. It infuriates me to no end when messages like this are passed on and it goes against my core. Of course, there are students that may have to learn differently, or they may struggle more with learning, but if we show them that we believe in them then maybe, just maybe, they will believe us and believe in themselves as well. No child starts out in Kindergarten thinking they are bad learners, this is something they are taught. We teach all children that they can be the best learners and that we will help them with it. Thank you for sharing this story, it was and is an inspiration!
Wow! Thanks for your comment, Pernille. You're absolutely right: no child starts off Kindergarten thinking that he/she can't learn. We have to believe in all students so that they believe in themselves too. Reading your tweets and your blog posts, there's no doubt in my mind that you believe in all of your students and help them be the best learners that they can be.I'm so glad that I get to learn from you both on Twitter and through your blog posts! Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to do the "guest post" this week. I'm thrilled that I could share my Aha Moment with all of you!Aviva
In your usual honest and forthright manner, you are demonstrating how to model the kind of positive space that all kids need to be able to find. Yes – anyone can learn – and you are teaching that to your Grade 1's, one student at a time.
Thanks for sharing, Aviva. All teachers need to believe that everyone has the potential to learn. I hate hearing teachers talking about what their students can't do… I always feel like saying "You're a teacher. Teach them!!" Ypur story shows what's possible, given the right motivation and support.
@cyndiej and @whatedsaid: Thank you both so much for your comments here! I really appreciate them, just as I really appreciate all of your support through Twitter too. It's great learning alongside wonderful educators like the two of you that really do believe that all students can succeed! Aviva
Great post Aviva! You know in India, we had a movie sometime back on special children by the name "Taare Zameen Par" where the underlying message was that every child is unique and has enormous capability to learn. Your post reminded me of the movie and confirmed my faith that it is we (teachers) who have to take the initiative to make our children lifelong learners.Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thank you so much for your comment! I completely agree with you: as teachers, we do need to make our students life long learners. It's great to communicate with teachers such as your self that really do believe that all students can succeed!Aviva
Your story reminds me of my learning disability. From that I believe we all need to learn how each of us learns before we can excel and be confident about our abilities.
A very good point, TTJ! Thanks for the comment!Aviva
Good for you!!! It is so important to never give up – just think of all the children who would have missed out on an amazing teacher!! My son is 7 and in grade 2. He is struggling in LA. He was tested last year and they said possible dyslexia. Every other subject he is excelling at!!! Part of his problem is self-confidence but this year it is coming along!!! George sent me a tweet today just to let me know Justin was smiling!!! No more fights and "can you stay today" – so far!!! It is difficult to watch your child struggle. I'm proud of you for your determination!! Want to teach in Alberta? 😉
Thank you for such a nice comment! I'm glad to hear that things are coming along for your son, and with a principal like George, I know that your son will continue to have a lot of support throughout the school year. I really applaud all that you do to support him too. I know that I wouldn't be where I am today without the support from my parents.Many thanks again!AvivaP.S. If I do ever decide to come and teacher in Alberta, I'll definitely let you know!:)