finding the learnings in teaching with Rachel Winstead

About Rachel Winstead | a writer, educator, community builder, late-bloomer, and queer creativeRachel Winstead is a writer, educator, community builder, late-bloomer, and queer creative. She’s happiest when she’s researching, listening, and LEARNING. After spending most of her career in marketing roles and copywriting gigs, she recently accepted the position of teaching high school English.“Over the years I’ve learned where my strengths are when it comes to wordsmithing, but these days I’m focused on refining those skills and sharing what I’ve learned with other creative people—and now high school students,” she explains. *** All Up in It is a project by coach SB Rawz focused on telling stories of growth and change from the thick of learning. Learn more about SB, coaching with her, & her projects at https://rawzcoaching.com***Show NotesRachel (she/they) describes themself as a teacher of teenagers leading to a feeling of being a partner in the students’ creative journey – and a tired human, recovering from being in that intensive energy after having been a solo freelancer for many yearsThey have been thinking about how we help each other tell their stories, stay curious, and discuss new or conflicting ideasThey’ve also been deepening their exploration of boundaries in the context of the high schoolWe discussed the intersection of losing our childhood ease with creativity as we buy into the story of what being good at creating means to our creative process – plus what Rachel is seeing in terms of creative potential in their studentsIf Rachel had their druthers, they’d call all of their classes Creative Expression because their priority is for each student to figure out what creative expression looks like to them as an individualWe also discussed the intersection of “proper” English, colloquial English, and a focus on form over function (or communication over grammar)How Rachel made an effort to start their class semesters with references to demonstrate the great big space available for the students to express themselves as a foundation to their efforts to create safe spaces for their voicesStudents experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity is part of the landscape Rachel is navigating as they create space and measure expectations of the studentsRachel likes to think of themself as a partner in their education and that though they use the language of “teacher” in their school, Rachel prefers the title of “educator” which is something they’ve been for a long time as a professional writerTools Rachel uses as they traverse this learning curve include their gut, self-care by way of breathing and tuning into their body, empathy, listening, school resources, and perpetually experimenting to find out what works for themRachel spotlighted Youth on Their Own, a dropout prevention program that supports the high school graduation and continued success of youth experiencing homelessness in Pima County. Learn more at https://yoto.org/