Day 10: Angelo Cariati, Instructional Coach (CBO)

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY!

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Hello! My name is Angelo Cariati (mr_cariati) and I am an Instructional Coach. I have the pleasure of working at four schools this year: Sir William Gage, Queen Street, Ridgeview and Copeland Public School. Simply put, I love to learn.

This school year so far has been a year of new: New role, new superintendency, new area, new schools and a new beard. As such, there’s been a lot of adjusting and, consequently, new learning. Today, I was the new student and I learned that you’re never too old for the first day of school jitters.

It was my first co-planning session with teachers that I’ve only corresponded with (and follow on Twitter). We new of one another but didn’t meet officially until today. It was the first time in almost a year that I didn’t hear “Hi Mr. C!” upon walking into a building. I had the school map in my hand and my phone in the other to double check which room I was meeting in. I had some things I knew I wanted to contribute to the discussion but I wasn’t at all sure about the context – and that was scary. I didn’t realize how quickly I got accustomed to having a sense of the community, the staff and students of the schools I worked in last year.

As I was waiting for my meeting to start, I took a quick glance at my Twitter feed. It was everywhere: “Just make a mark and see where it takes you.” Today is International Dot Day as inspired by Peter H. Reynold’s The Dot. It’s one of my go-to read alouds. I’ve used it as a provocation, to consolidate new learning and as reassurance during those unsure days. For me today, it was all three. I had to remind myself that I was in a very similar position a year ago. I ultimately made some lifelong friends and met many amazing kids in my short chapter as an Early Literacy Teacher. After being greeted with a Peel smile, the co-planning session was ready to start.

My big blank piece of paper now has a dot on it and I’m excited to see where it takes me. Happy Dot Day, everyone.