Meet Savannah Angel, sixth-grade science teacher at Peak Charter Academy. Ms. Angel started her education classes with the fear of having to change herself to fit the teacher mold. That was before she started believing she could be a great teacher and be herself.
“I had to use what made me different from the typical Type A teacher to be successful,” said Ms. Angel. “No two students are alike, and that goes for teachers as well. It made me more cognizant of the different learning styles so that I could better develop strategies to help my students succeed. It feels amazing to give people a sense of belonging or acceptance that you don't need to fit a specific stereotype of teacher or employee. People should challenge themselves to grow, but also celebrate what makes them unique.”
The past year taught her the importance of using her Type B personality to her advantage. She soon found that working from home created a lot of opportunities for distraction, but she took it as a time to try new things.
“The ability to be flexible and go with the flow really came in handy when the Wi-Fi was down, there were Google Meet outages, or any other unforeseen obstacles that threw our schedule out of whack,” she said. “Teaching is the constant cycle of ‘make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan’ (Captain Cold, The Flash).”
“Whether virtual or in-person, Ms. Angel has gone above and beyond to create and sustain positive and impactful relationships with her students and colleagues,” said Steve Pond, principal at Peak. “Ms. Angel's focus on relationship-building and connection-making enhances the level of buy-in that her students and parents have into the wonderful learning experiences she creates for her scholars. Ms. Angel’s contributions to the academic and cultural environments at Peak are invaluable and are greatly appreciated!”
She believes that students won’t remember the perfect lesson plan, but they will remember how their teacher made them feel loved and appreciated. Her best advice is to identify those different learning types in a classroom early, so that they can learn to use what makes them special to become successful, lifelong learners.
Ms. Angel recently went on The Teachers’ Lounge podcast to share her passion for teaching with a Type B personality and teaching during COVID-19. The Teachers’ Lounge is National Heritage Academies’ (NHA) library of podcast episodes, videos, and blogs that support teachers in all stages of their careers by sharing helpful tips and tricks on teaching-related topics.
Each guest on The Teachers’ Lounge is an expert in a particular area of teaching, bringing a unique perspective on educator-specific topics, and Ms. Angel brings her passion for teaching with a Type B personality in a Type A environment.
“My favorite part of being on this podcast is the feedback from fellow teachers and even non-teachers,” said Ms. Angel. “I have had several friends working in the corporate world that have reached out to me after listening to tell me how much they connected to the episodes. I also love listening to other educators use this platform to elaborate on a topic that they are passionate about. This past year has caused us all to relearn our job and it was comforting to know that we could lean on each other. I loved sharing my experiences as a ‘quaran-teacher’ and hearing that people connected to and benefited from what I shared.”
You can read her blog, “9 Tips for Teaching with a Type B Personality”, or listen to her podcast episodes, “Teaching with a Type B Personality” and “Teaching During COVID-19” on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. She also has several videos on The Teachers’ Lounge YouTube channel.
Ms. Angel believes The Teachers’ Lounge allows teachers to collaborate with other educators of varying levels of experience.
“This profession is only successful when we all work together,” she said. “It is crucial that educators have a platform to share their experiences, both failures and successes, with their colleagues to gather resources and strategies that can apply to their own classrooms. Education is such an amazing field because you are not in competition with the teacher next to you, you are working together for the greater good of our collective future.”
Keep up the excellent work, Ms. Angel!
Listen to The Teachers’ Lounge podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, watch videos on The Teachers' Lounge YouTube, or read the blog. If there’s a topic you’d like to see covered in The Teacher’s Lounge, email swilliams@nhaschools.com.