Embracing her introversion has empowered her innovation
Embracing introversion can fuel innovation. Understanding introversion has helped me build on my strengths, reframe my challenges, and cultivate opportunity. My personal journey of honoring introversion has empowered my professional innovation.
Empowering others is my love language.
I'm so excited to introduce Rebecca Weiner, this week's guest blogger for Beyond Introversion. Rebecca is an amazing teacher for diverse kids, and her lessons speak volumes to introverts everywhere. Her journey is both inspiring and empowering. I love how she has used her own strengths to reinvent herself and, as a result, make such a huge impact on so many. Wow, what a great story!
Empower Others
I am a dynamic educator and passionate advocate. Empowering others is my love language. Empowering myself is a lifelong learning journey. I spent the first three decades of my life reaching out, showing, up, and serving others, My identity was rooted in being a student, a teacher, and a community leader. That identity was challenged after years as an early childhood special education teacher. I was committed but drained. My courage and creativity were dwindling. I felt broken, and I thought there was something wrong with me.
Learning about introversion, and being a highly sensitive person as well, was life-changing. I learned there was nothing wrong with me. I was not “too sensitive” or “not strong enough.” I just wasn’t building on my strengths. This understanding helped me reframe the challenges I was experiencing and discover how I could build on my strengths to design a practice that worked for me and made a difference for others.
Embrace Your Strengths
I realized my strengths are best-expressed teaching and learning one on one or in small groups of children. My holistic perspective of education inspires me to change the lives of children beyond the classroom. Meaningful change for children comes from empowering parents as partners in progress with teachers and therapists. Through innovation, I could help the families who wanted to support their children’s development or promote positive behavior but did not know how. I could help the teachers and therapists who wanted to promote success beyond the classroom and clinic but felt limited in their capacities.
I created Learn Play Grow Educational Consulting by building on my strengths as an introvert to meet the needs of children, families, teachers, and therapists. Learn Play Grow is a private educational consulting practice specializing in play-based learning for young children with diverse abilities, parent coaching, teacher training, and school consulting. Learn Play Grow cultivates children's curiosity, creativity, communication, and critical thinking through play while helping families understand their children’s development and support positive behavior. We support and encourage teachers and schools to reimagine education and their role in it. Learn Play Grow sparks therapists to see the impact of intervention at home, at school, and in the community.
Introversion Fuels Innovation
The uniqueness of Learn Play Grow is changing lives, my own included. Empowering parents to understand and support their child’s development is transformative for the child, the family, and for me. Convening and collaborating with small teams of teachers and therapists to build on each other’s strengths allows us to help our students and clients achieve success at home, at school, and in the community. This collaboration is groundbreaking for the child, the family, the teachers, and therapists, and for me. Helping students feel understood and supported in using all of their diverse abilities is empowering for the child and everyone involved.
Understanding introversion has empowered me to build on my strengths and reframe my challenges to cultivate opportunities. I never dreamed of building a living around life rather than life around a living. Learn Play Grow and my introversion learning journey are work in progress. I do not know what the future holds, especially with the changing dynamics of education, but I am learning to trust that I have what it takes within me, my introverted self.
BIO
Rebecca A. Weiner, M.Ed. is a dynamic educator and advocate who is passionate about the power of play and the importance of inclusion for young children with diverse abilities. She earned a master’s degree in education and completed a residency at Rice University’s School Literacy and Culture Program and a fellowship in Leadership Education for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND). Rebecca is the creator of Learn Play Grow Educational Consulting and has 15+ years of experience teaching early childhood special and inclusive education and consulting with families, therapists, schools, and community organizations.
You can also check out my guest post, Empowering Introverted Kids, on Rebecca's website today!
TONIGHT!!!
Haunting. Current. Tragic. Stirring. Reflective.
Join us for an exciting hour of inspirational book readings and discussions on August 5th.
In Search of Courage - Book Launch Special: $1.99 (eBook) and $11.99 (Paper)
NEXT WEEK:
Just for Writers!
Lists that will change your path!
Five Whopper Mistakes I Made
Five Tips to Save you Time and Money
Amazing Resources
Great books to read