Linda graduated from the Boulder Journey School Teacher Education Program (BJS TEP) in 2014. She now owns a consulting business, Collaborative Learning Consulting Services, through which she plans and conducts professional development trainings and provides coaching and support to schools and organizations in Boulder County, Colorado. When she enrolled in the BJS TEP, she had already work for about thirty years as an early childhood teacher and director. However, she approached her journey in the program with curiosity and openness. This was not only beneficial to her own learning, it was also beneficial to the learning of the colleagues in her cohort, as well as to the Instructors! We invite you to check out her unique perspectives below.
Where has your journey taken you since graduating from the Boulder Journey School Teacher Education Program?
When I graduated from the BJS TEP, I resumed a full time director role at the school I had been working at previously. In 2016, however, I began a new chapter. I wanted to support teachers, directors, and children in a new way, so I stepped down from my director position, and I began my consulting business. Almost immediately, I began to be offered contracts, working with early education professionals in different capacities. I started teaching and coaching for the Expanding Quality for Infants and Toddlers initiative (EQIT), and I started coaching for other initiatives through the Early Childhood Council of Boulder County. I was able to work with programs who were some of the first in Boulder County to go through the Colorado Shines System. I was able to work with centers and family child care homes with really diverse family populations. I was able to help schools build more family engagement. I was able to lead various large group professional development trainings. The contracts just kept coming, and very quickly I went from thinking this would be a part time business to feeling like I would soon need to hire an employee. It’s been really exciting to build a business from the ground up!
How did your education in the Boulder Journey School Teacher Education Program help prepare you for your current professional role?
When I enrolled in the program, I had been a Director for 25 years, and I had lost a little bit of what it really meant to be a teacher. In that way, the practicum was really challenging and humbling. I absolutely did not realize how much information I didn’t know. The different classes I completed through the program helped me discover such important information, and I find myself really utilizing all of that now in my role as a consultant.
Another piece that I thought was really cool about the program was experiencing personalized learning first hand. I’m not a traditional learner, and it stopped me from pursuing my education for a lot of years. I really wanted to pursue a Master’s Degree, but I was terrified. The more I talked to BJS TEP Administrators, and heard from people who had completed the program before me, I realized that it’s not a traditional way of learning. It’s customized, so that each person can learn through their own style. That has really made an impression on me as I do my work now. Because I was immersed in that style and was able to see all the different ways that my fellow colleagues were learning throughout the BJS TEP, I can now apply that in the ways in which I work with clients.
What is your favorite memory from your time in the Boulder Journey School Teacher Education Program?
I was an Infant teacher in my practicum at Boulder Journey School. It was not an experience I thought I was going to do well with. In fact, I was terrified. I had never worked directly with infants before. As soon as I began in the infant room, I realized that it was an incredible learning opportunity. Just being on the floor with the children and noticing all the subtleties of their communication and behavior was powerful.
The course EDHD 5260: Child Study and Observation for me was probably my most important piece out of the whole program, because it really showed me how you could delve into the life of a child and apply that knowledge to working with other children. Now I’ve come full circle. I’ve been able to do a bit of consulting for Boulder Journey School, and I get to spend time with the group of children I had as infants who are about to graduate from PreKindergarten. Logan was my child study, and it took him just a couple of times of seeing me again, and talking a little bit with him, for him to remember me. Just the other day I was spending time in his classroom with a small group and sharing stories about when they were little. We were laughing, and Logan was sitting on my lap. He put his arm on my shoulder, and I just thought, “Wow! This is the best ever!” So I would say my favorite memory is just building that connection with the infants and getting to feel how meaningful it was for both them and me.
What brings you joy in your current professional position?
Last night is a perfect example. I went to a site that, a year ago, was ready to shut down. I worked there for a couple of months last year, and they made some changes that the whole staff seems really excited about. They’re going to go through the Colorado Shines process, and so I was able to meet with each of the three teaching teams last night. These were teachers who previously felt like they had to be doing things in pretty traditional ways. I met with each team for just 25 minutes and spent the time diving into learning through play. We talked, and we played with materials. I tried to help them see the things they were good at and use those strengths as inspiration to set goals. By the end of the evening, I saw so many flickers of excitement. It was beautiful. I got to spark that interest for them, get them excited about it. Now I get to go back and support them through the process. I was driving home last night and just had this thought, “Oh, yes! This is why I do what I do!”
What professional accomplishment(s) are you most proud of?
I think I’m most proud of the fact that I’m capable of conducting trainings. I wasn’t very confident in front of groups for a long time. I have always had trouble with auditory processing, so sometimes, when I say things, my words get all jumbled, and it takes me a little bit to recover. As I’ve been doing more trainings, I find that I can kind of incorporate my challenges and be honest about them. This brings some laughter to the group, but it’s also a platform to talk about the experience of young children when they are first learning to communicate. I realize that the things that I was most fearful about and embarrassed by are things that have been helping me build my confidence, and I love it.
In terms of your professional life, what are you most passionate about right now?
I am most passionate about interactions and relationships. Whether it’s teachers interacting with the children, or directors, or parents, I just love getting to support meaningful interaction and see social and emotional development at all different levels. I also want to leave readers with the words “anything is possible!”. Whatever you think you want to do or be a part of, don’t let anybody talk you out of it. Go for it!
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