About: Building Strong Bonds: Through the Lens of An Educator and Mother

Welcome to The Mutant Teacher Blog! My name is Joannie, and I am an educator and mother. I taught science in high school and I have a degree in Neuroscience. I always loved teaching but the last few years were harder and harder. Every day, I witnessed firsthand how the education system is failing our children. Eventually, I realized that the mental and emotional load of teaching was weighing heavily on me, and something needed to change.

Why Does This Blog Exist?

I have always been passionate about helping others achieve their full potential. Up until recently, I felt I was adequately able to do this through teaching. I loved connecting with my students and using content as a vehicle to teach important life lessons. Lessons that were not part of the curriculum but were desperately needed.

However, the learning machine that we call school seems to have forgotten to put the kids at the center of its decision-making processes. It was becoming increasingly difficult to support and nurture kids with so few resources. The classes were overcrammed, the services evaporated quickly, and the lack of motivation was palpable from the students and teachers alike. We were all there every day but the reasons why seemed to evade us.

Eventually, I went into survival mode, trying to teach dated content with dated techniques to kids who literally had all the answers at their fingertips. It seemed all we could focus on was quantifying their accomplishments. Even though some kids were really struggling emotionally, the priority was still on academics. This became extremely confronting for me.

I have a background in neuroscience with a specialty in motivation and emotion. I love to understand why people do what they do so that I can provide insights to help them suffer less. I became a teacher because I love teenagers and I wanted to help relieve some of the natural stressors that high school brings. Instead, I was able to see what they needed but didn’t have the tools to give it to them!

Naturally, I even started to question how I could possibly enroll my own children into this system. I started to flirt with the idea of homeschooling my children. As an educator and mother, it made no sense for me to continue to teach other kids while mine were going to have to win the school lottery to get a decent education. Right now they are still too young to go to school but it is hard to imagine sending them into this school system knowing what I know now.

How Can My Perspective as an Educator and Mother Serve you?

Since my passion for education is still strong, I decided to continue exploring alternative educational models. My friends and family pleaded with me not to leave the profession saying it was a waste of my potential. They all know how strong my affinity for teaching is. How my love for helping others shift perspectives would be starved without my classroom. I just keep thinking there is a better way.

As an educator and mother, I need to find an outlet for all my ideas, and experiences related to education. I want to continue giving back and that is how this blog came to be. My blog is here to advocate for a better education for our children. Here you can explore parenting anecdotes and ideas for alternative educational models. Ideally, my neuroscience background and my teaching experience can help shed a fresh perspective on some of the experiences our kids are enduring in our schools.

My Life as an Educator and Mother

Family

I am the very proud mother of 2 rowdy toddlers. My oldest was only a few months old when Covid started and my youngest was dreamed of, conceived, and born during Covid. Therefore, we have been lucky to spend a significant amount of quality time as a family as a result of this. We play a lot in our household. My partner use to be a physical education teacher and we are both very active. So it is not that surprising that our boys are very busy bodies. Honestly, we wouldn’t want it any other way. We love to play board games, get messy, throw things, and make mistakes, because that is the best way to learn.

Hobbies

I also have many hobbies, which I practice alone or with others. Sports are an incredible way to gain important transferable life skills and be in the moment. This is why I practice acro-yoga with my life partner. Acro-yoga forces us to communicate and trust each other as we move into difficult balancing positions together. We also play ultimate frisbee together and this is where I get my weekly “team” fix. In ultimate frisbee, a team is only as strong as its weakest player. Therefore, teamwork, positivity, and communication are a must. I also love that I am always either chasing something or being chased. It forces me to run faster. Running just makes me feel free. Maybe I was a dog in another lifetime.

DIY is part of my core. I like the challenge of figuring out how things work and I strongly believe I learn how to do anything. When I can’t solve something I always think that I just have not found the right way yet. Being outside my “comfort zone” is my favorite zone to be in because that is where growth happens. As an educator and mother, I have both the desire and skills to also share with others what I know.

I find that these activities help me unwind and recharge. In addition, they serve as a good reminder about the importance of having diverse skills. The majority of the skills I use daily to be a productive human being in our society I didn’t learn at school.

Freediving

When I am not spending time with my family, I am a freediving instructor. I get paid to teach grown-ups to voluntarily deprive themselves of oxygen for amusement. I also oversee the team of coaches that works for our local school here in Montreal, Apneacity. Teaching and practicing freediving helps me stay grounded and focused. It also keeps me humble about the power of the mind and body.

Mindfulness and Breathing

I’m also a certified meditation and breath coach and I am working on a project to help introduce these concepts into the fields of education and health. I taught mindfulness for the last 5 years of my career. In my last year of teaching, my students voluntarily practiced 20 minutes of relaxation time at the start of every class. They indulged in 20 minutes of mindful silence. Try to imagine 30+ students sitting still and silently all at the same time. I’m still amazed that they bought into this idea and thoroughly enjoyed it. We all cherished these moments as these were our only moments of shared peace in the day. As an educator and mother, mindfulness and breathing practices really help me stay grounded.

The Mission

My goal with this blog is to share my thoughts, insights, and experiences with teachers and parents who share the same passion for living more meaningful and fulfilling lives with their children. I hope to inspire and empower parents, teachers, and students to challenge the way we learn and strive for a better future for everyone.

I would love to share ideas with you through Facebook. Furthermore, I invite you to sign up for my mailing list so that I can continue to share a multitude of reflections and strategies to help our children strive.

Thank you for joining this journey, and I look forward to engaging with you through my blog.