Monday, October 10, 2011

What are my strengths?

Over the weekend I decided to take my Strength Finder test. I have not taken this test before, so it was rather interesting to see how it all played out. My five strengths are achiever, woo, communication, discipline and relator. Some of the strengths that came up I was not surprised by but others definitely shocked me. For those who have not taken this test, or know what these things are, I am going to explain each one of mine in further detail.
For anyone who knows me, I am definitely an achiever. An achiever has a constant need for achievement and works their butt off everyday to no avail. After each accomplishment is reached the fire dwindles and then its on to the next item of business. For me as a teacher, this is the driving force to take on the next challenge through constantly improving lesson plans, learning new strategies and trying new ideas (anything to meet the goal). Because I do not take the time to enjoy what I have accomplished, I worry that I will not do so for my students either. I will need to be conscious of being still and be proud of their work.
My second strength was WOO. This stands for winning others over. Those who have the strength of WOO are what most people would see as outgoing. They naturally strike up conversations with strangers and befriend people without concern. They form connections and build a rapport but quickly move on to mingle with the next group. This will be great for dealing with students parents and other staff. Because I am not scared of striking up conversation, I will have the ability to build rapport with the parents and create a comfortableness for them to come to me with any concerns. With this, I will need to be conscious of parents who do not so easily engage in conversation so as not to scare them.
I may be a bit dramatic, but hey, it's my strength of communication. Those with this strength have the ability to take a dull, dry idea and turn it into something exciting and energizing. As a teacher, this strength will allow me to capture the attention of my students and engage them in, what otherwise would be, dull information. As a matter of fact, I have already experienced this in the classroom. The other day I was teaching a lesson about longitude and latitude (boring for sure) but because my communication of the material was so engaging the students were connected and having fun. Some even stopped to tell me I needed to calm down a little because I was getting too excited.
Discipline is my fourth strength. People with the strength of discipline desire a world that is predictable. They live for routines, plans, and order which give them the sense of having control. This rings true to who I am as a person. I have a plan for everything and desire, even need, to feel like I am in control. This will benefit my teaching because I will be conscious in my planning, organized in my work and form routines for the students to adjust into. Though this strength has its benefits it is also something that I will need to work on. This is probably the hardest strength I deal with. Life is not always predictable and God is the only one who is truly in control. I need to learn to be flexible with my students, other teachers and parents because not everyone is as organized as I will be.
My last strength is that of relator. As a relator, you are a person who values deep relationships. You may not have many friends that you are close to but for the ones that are, you are constantly trying to deepen the relationship. You understand their is a sense of risk in opening up to someone but the closeness your relationship will bring is worth it. This confused me at first because I do not feel like I open up to people easily, if at all. I tend to feel like I am a very surface kind of person but as I read on i realized that this may be me. I am extremely close to my family, my boyfriend and a couple friends. In those relationships, I work to deepen the bond between us despite the risk of getting hurt. As a teacher, I am not sure how this would help me. Feel free to comment and try to open my eyes as to how this has a benefit in the education field.
With knowing your strengths it is important to understand how they can help you as well as the problems they can cause. The key is to having balance between them all. As an achiever I need to be conscious to enjoy life and not work it away. With WOO, I need to be conscious that I may intimidate others who are not as open. I will need to learn to listen just as much, if not more than I speak with a strength of Communication. Flexibility is the key to dealing with the strength of Discipline. And lastly, I will need to be open to forming new friendships and take the risk of allowing the relationship to go to a deeper level. Be conscious to find the balance in it all.

2 comments:

  1. Totally awesome, this does sound like you. You will be able to discern with your students, fellow teachers and eventually your student teachers what to share as far as your life experiences which will take you deeper in your relationships. Just like mrs. k did with you. It is a great strength to have. There is a freedom to be able to share the real us, the good, bad and ugly regardless of what people think of us. Just be discerning in the position you are in and trust the Holy Spirit;s leading. You are going to help change the world my girl...one child, one life at a time.

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  2. Excellent reflection & application of your strengths/gifts to your teaching calling!

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