My Education Story
By Shelia F. Burlock
December 6, 2022
I remember as a little girl playing rock
teacher and baking mud pies and oh my, jumping Double Dutch Rope all day long! Little did I know at the time
that these childhood interests would make a lifetime imprint on my life and in
some ways define what I love today.
I love teaching. I love baking and I love
exercising.
However, my love for education
really started with my parents. My mother dear Ethel Lee and
my daddy Johnny B. were natural born teachers. They taught me
what they loved. My mother loved baking. My father was good with working with
his hands. They both used direct instruction. They
modeled and used shared learning, essential vocabulary, scaffolding content
with guided and independent practice. Although they never realized it; they
were my best teachers. My dad had his favorite saying- “Now you’re thinking
like a Harris!” (Meaning now you have it!) This was the highest paid
compliment one could have gotten from him.
I also had two older cousins who were superb
educators and who piqued my interest in teaching- Their names-Mae Alice Tucker
a high school home economics teacher and Pauline Kelley, an elementary school
teacher. They were both my childhood heroes. I often thought to myself that
when I grow up, I want to be just like them.
But what clenched it for me to fall in love with
education was my fifth grade Chicago Public Schools teacher, Mrs. Pitts.
Mrs. Pitts always said to me, “Shelia you’re going to be something when you grow up!”
She liked to have me recite poetry in class especially Langston Hughes- our favorite. And my favorite poem was “I TOO ". Mrs. Pitts' belief in me that I too could do anything THAT I set my mind to along with the dynamic expression of teaching I saw her do, made me fall in love with education.
As a child growing up in Chicago and attending Chicago Public Schools, I never imagined that my career journey would take me from working as a home schooler, pre-school teacher, day care director, public school elementary and middle school teacher, and finally as a licensed administrator within three school districts and in two states. My career is pretty eclectic spanning from working in diverse educational settings-in Private Schools, Christian Schools, traditional Public Schools, Urban and Rural schools and in Charter Schools.
My family has been my inspiration through each stage of my Edu- journey. My family are my heroes especially my husband of 41 years Donald Burlock Sr. He has been my lion- always with me to provide, protect and promote me. My son, Donald; daughter-in-law, Debbie; and my two daughters, Melissa and Sylvia are my ongoing encouragers- always seeing the best in me. To be a successful educator you need a support system, and this is who my family is.
I love to approach learning as an adventure or a discovery for students to explore learning tasks according to their interests. I used to have my own children work on authentic real world projects related to what we now call STEM and STEAM because I knew that if they investigated and created solutions to problems that arose then they would acquire and attain their learning for a lifetime. I still have the ant farm that my own kids navigated and explored when I homeschooled them. This kind of sustained learning has stayed with them and even shaped the trajectory of career choices they do now. It inspires me to see kids loving learning and taking ownership of their learning. This is exciting for me to see because when a child loves to learn and asks questions and explores, and builds, models and evaluates and explains what they learn- then the sky's the limit. This gives me chill bumps to see kids excited to learn.
One of my goals for students is to cultivate and
maintain a growth mindset, which means that they have the
frame of thinking that they can try any challenge and get good at anything they
desire if they put in the effort, practice and perseverance. And that their
talents and skills can be developed with grit which is learning how to push
past obstacles and how to gain
from the pain. Yes, it’ll be hard even difficult and challenging but don’t quit
because in the end, you will gain and grow and improve and succeed!
This all leads to sustainability.
So, my goals are
Growth +Skill + Grit=Sustainability
What’s Your Edu-Story?
