PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Former Florida Teacher of the Year Dorina Sackman-Ubuwa gave talks on Oct 28 and 29 at the University of Maine at Presque Isle on the power of emotional intelligence, and its place in modern education and everyday life.
The talks, given on Thursday to students and on Friday to educators, was part of UMPI’s 2021-2022 Libra Distinguished Lecture Series.
The duty of educators is to shape the minds of students, and convey necessary life skills to the next generation, to better prepare them for the future. Florida teacher of the year Dorina Sackman-Ubuwa, has taken the duty of an educator to heart, looking to change how teachers communicate with students, and how students interact with learning.
In 2014, she was voted as Florida Teacher of the Year, and was a finalist for national teacher of the year the same year.
Her talk titled “B.E.L.I.E.V.E.! in Emotional Intelligence: Navigating the Intrapersonal Pillar of TEI for Everyday Personal Excellence” was designed to help both students and educators with their emotional intelligence, not only in an academic setting, but in everyday life.
“The distinguished speaker talk was a wonderful experience talking about the interpersonal pillar of emotional intelligence for really good personal and professional understanding of getting to know one’s emotional intelligence and to be a better person for our collective society,” said Sackman- Ubuwa. “It’s about using that intelligence to reflect, rather than react.”
Sacman-Ubuwa has been a champion for practicing what you preach, which came to a head for her during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being isolated in her house, she had to practice her own teachings to avoid giving in to fear due to the circumstances of the pandemic.
“I had developed something called agoraphobia, where I was afraid to leave my own house. The anxiety of leaving the house because of COVID, believing that I had underlying conditions that made me vulnerable, and feeding into the frenzy of not knowing, led me to sit and reflect, and remember that science was happening live, and in real time,” Sackman-Ubuwa said.
This resulted in her creating a YouTube channel to help connect with people over the pandemic, sharing her positive messages with educators all over the country. Her channel has more than 500 subscribers.
Emotional intelligence is an essential skill that allows people to practice empathy and active listening, as well as the ability to reflect, rather than immediately react, she said.
Sackman-Ubuwa hopes that her talk gave listeners the opportunity to think critically about how educators and students interact, and how those interactions can change the way that we look at modern education.
