4 Take-A-Ways from the Teacher Self Care Conference
4. Find Your People …
Ok so a little back story to put things in context:
I am a middle child I have an older sister Martina and a younger sister Tiffany, she is 15 months younger than me. So, I’ve always had 2 built in best friends, growing up I was always very shy and could get away with it because I had my 2 spokeswomen. My family moved quite frequently growing up like every 2 years until I graduated from high school. Although I was shy and super nervous every time I entered a new school I always had my sidekick Tiff the only exceptions were 9th grade (she was in 8th) and when I went to college (she was a senior). I went to Dillard University and came out of my shell somewhat as I was no longer the new girl because everyone was new. I believe that I am an outgoing introvert, so I can be more outgoing in certain situations however every time I walk into a new situation I have the feeling of being the “new girl” and that everyone already has their group except me. When I arrived at the conference although I had that “new girl” spirit as always, I quickly became comfortable and immediately started meeting new and old (Instagram) friends. This is not a teacher clique conference it’s a teacher family conference.
3. Innocent Brown Girl: How I was referred to for most of the conference …
I started the IBGP as a solution to a problem that I knew was important. The problem though was not something that I felt I needed to be the face of (if you think about it my logo has always been the profile pic on all platforms for the IBGP). Every now and then I’ll reintroduce myself on the IBGP page for new followers (it’s always very uncomfortable) but I still do it. I realized this past weekend when I attended and presented at The Teacher Self Care Conference that people know what I do but have no idea who I am. I realized that’s probably not the best way to get people to listen to my message. If you are reading this, you know that the IBGP social media pages all have a new profile picture (shout out to everyone that took a good picture of me presenting).
2. Affirmation: Not Needed but Necessary …
All of that being said it’s still really difficult for me to think about The Innocent Brown Girl Project as a business. Every time I send an invoice my heart stops and my head says they’ll never pay you. I would love to give away everything I have and know for free, but the reality is it cost to create quality products, lessons, presentations, and to be at the conferences where so many of you have seen me. A big thank you to everyone that has ever purchased anything from me or shared anything I have created you have enabled me to create and present more. I would love to one day be able to run The Innocent Brown Girl Project full time there are so many things I want to do and create but in order for that to happen two things would have to fall into place: First I would have to be able to be around young people (girls) at least 60% of the time. Second, I would need to be able to support myself (my parents would put that first but anyway) and my Nike habit. The affirmation I received from everyone that joined my presentation, asked to take a picture with me, and shouted me out on social media was not needed but necessary. I came back with a renewed spirit for doing this work.
1. Operate in Your Sweet Spot
Growing up my dad always lectured us about finding your “sweet spot” it’s definitely a basketball idea (the spot you’re most comfortable shooting from). Although the Teacher Self-Care Conference is themed around how we care for ourselves as educators the presentations were on a variety of topics. Honestly when I decided to submit a proposal I wasn’t sure that my topic was a fit for the conference, but I decided to try anyway. Although the topics were from many different categories the common thread among them were that the presenters were sharing things they were passionate about everyone was operating in their sweet spot and we were all loved on for being our true authentic selves.
In conclusion (I never let my students end papers this way), it was a magical experience and I would gladly share from my “sweet spot” at any other Teacher Self-Care Event.
