We recently connected with Noa Daniel and have shared our conversation below.
Noa, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
I create projects and initiatives that build skill, autonomy, and connection for students, educators, and communities. All of my work helps people develop a sense of belonging to themselves and each other. In the classroom, students leave their time with me knowing themselves better as learners and people. My children’s book, Strum and The Wild Turkeys, helps kids feel good about being themselves, finding their flock, and rocking their differences. The Mentoree is a supportive mentorship community for educators grounded in professional learning, well-being, and efficacy. I build outside the blocks.
Noa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Being a teacher is my identity as much as it has been my profession for 28 years. I love being a teacher, and the classroom is not the only place that I embody that.
I was on a panel of the podcast I now host called OnEdMentors offering mentorship on a variety of educational topics. I recognized how much the panels were learning from each other. I also had a long-held belief that teachers need more autonomy to direct their professional learning. I also had been privileged to experience the power of mentorship through previous professional relationships, so I worked with a partner and co-founded what became The Mentoree: a self-directed mentorship community for educators. We help teachers around the world access mentors and evolve their pedagogy through various forms of mentorship at any and every stage of their careers. The Mentoree develops spaces for educators to learn, to lead, and to connect with each other. We also work with different organizations to develop mentorship experiences for their communities through the practices and offerings we have created for our community. The Mentoree welcomes educators Mentors, Mentees, or both.
I am a creative person, and writing is a key outlet. I have always written for myself and began writing more for others early in my teaching career. Many years ago, I had 2 children’s books published: Crazy for Canada and Old Timers: The One That Got Away. I was sure that I was not going to pursue that avenue of my creativity anymore, but a few years ago, I was commissioned to write a story about a true event that ended up turning into my newest children’s book and another arm of my work. Strum and The Wild Turkeys is more than a story about a peacock with an imperfect plume who finds his voice and his flock in the band The Wild Turkeys. This story, for which I developed the website content, has given me new avenues for my creativity. The song that Strum sings in the story that draws The Wild Turkeys to him is “Different is Good”. I wrote the rest of the song and worked on the composition with a musician. This past year, a Canadian children’s duo, Sonshine and Broccoli, released a rocking version that has really become an anthem for so many. I am hopeful about finding a publisher for the series so I can keep developing the characters and their stories with the themes of inclusion, belonging, and the transformational power of music.
Whether I am developing the vision for the children’s book series and related projects, evolving The Mentoree with our lead team, or creating projects and initiatives for myself and through my consulting work, I am a teacher who hopes to help foster self discovery through my work for people of all ages so they can explore and take pride in their social identities and deepen their sense of self. Feeding the roots of something is the best way to create stability and sustain growth. That is why the compass of learning should face selfward, and all of my work really boils down to my passion and love for teaching.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I was really stuck and figured a way out that led to starting my consulting practice. I was working at a school that I loved, and a principal who did not like me did a lot of questionable things to me personally and professionally. It left me in a quandary. I have actually written a chapter on this topic coming out in a book by Barbara Bray this winter, but my story of those difficult years compelled me to search inside myself and culminated in my leap into the unknown. Deciding to leave was the most difficult decision of my professional life. Lizzo said that you should never let someone stop you or shame you from being yourself, but they can and they do. Sometimes, it’s because they try hard on purpose and, other times, it’s because your self-concept is tied to others’ opinions of you. I had to find a way to empower myself to get beyond this, humble myself to start again, and repair myself from the years of damage that this and the resulting emotions had done to me and my family. I’m still on that journey, but I’m grateful for the fuel that helped propel me to drive my own professional experiences and create a space to be all that I am.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I used to believe that going it alone made you stronger. I had viewed all of my role models as singular individuals who made it despite their circumstances or the challenges that lay in front of them. Now, I see the power of collaboration. Working with a team helps you navigate challenges with more perspective, build on people’s strengths, and improve your work by listening to and learning from others. Team work keeps me more open minded and improves the projects and initiatives that I build. I had to unlearn the lone wolf thinking and find my packs.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.buildingoutsidetheblocks,com, www.thementoree.com, www.strumandthewildturkeys.com
- Instagram: @iamnoadaniel, @thementoree, @strumandtwt
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thementoree, https://www.facebook.com/strumandtwt/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noa-daniel-bab96b30/
- Twitter: @iamnoadaniel, @thementoree, @strumandtwt
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thementoree4394, https://www.youtube.com/@strumandtwt7689
- Other: https://www.ted.com/talks/noa_daniel_play_it_forward
Image Credits
Dana Berr Photography