So I decided I would wrap up the 2016-2017 school year with a self reflection/challenge post and share a few things that pushed me outside of my safe zone as a teacher this year.
Let's rewind to Summer 2016.
I was invited along to present for my school district's end of year professional development, as well as another school district's end of the year professional development, and had also been accepted to co-present with Hope at UTC (Upstate Technology Conference), which might I add is an amazing conference and I highly recommend it! I'll miss it this year due to family vacation.
I had not really presented to peers and colleagues since college and now I had three conferences to present at. Talk about really swallowing fear! Presenting can be highly nerve racking, but honestly through each session that summer I began to become more confident and began to realize my passion. My passion to make learning as hands on and engaging as possible in order to provide students with opportunities and experiences that they {hopefully} won't forget.
I had not really presented to peers and colleagues since college and now I had three conferences to present at. Talk about really swallowing fear! Presenting can be highly nerve racking, but honestly through each session that summer I began to become more confident and began to realize my passion. My passion to make learning as hands on and engaging as possible in order to provide students with opportunities and experiences that they {hopefully} won't forget.
Fast forward to fall 2016. Hope and I had been accepted to share about the Purple Cow PLC that we (really she) hosts at our school each month at the South Carolina Technology Conference (SCEDTech). Once again, completely out of my comfort zone. I am the type that would rather work right behind the scene and never be heard, God has a sense of humor is all I can figure.
Insert 2016-2017 school year. I may have shared this in a post {ages ago}, but I looped from first grade to second grade this year. An amazing experience that I would not trade for the world. BUT, when you have the same group of students for two years, you're old tricks can become a little dusty. I mean, each year when you get new students they are so engaged by all that you have to offer. Well, not that these precious students were not still engaged in my classroom, but I knew deep down I had to change. I had to change for them and keep that excitement for learning growing. Also, none of my wonderful, pre-made activities that I had used for the past 4 years were going to work because #newgradelevel #samestudents {yes, I admit I used to use the same things each year for each unit and they are still beautifully organized and stored in my file cabinet because if a good thing works hang on to it and use it again 😜}.
In November I had the phenomenal opportunity to visit the Ron Clark Academy (RCA) in Atlanta, GA. I was blown away! I left so inspired and loaded with new ideas for engagement and instruction. However, those ideas would require me to once again step out of my comfort zone, I'm may start calling my comfort zone my comfort box because I literally find myself crawling back in there and taping the lid shut. Maybe I just have different comfort boxes for each area of my life, who knows.
So, I came back from Ron Clark inspired and motivated to started this new journey as a new and improved teacher who was going to tackle engagement and excitement with a smile! The kids loved it and I honestly can say that they blew me away with their learning and growth as well! I won't pretend that all of my days were on the mountain top waving the victory flag, because there were many days that I was in the trench with the white flag of surrender flying too. What I learned though, was in order to grow, change has to take place. Change has to begin with y-o-u.
Reflecting on a school year could literally be a published book, i'll try to make the rest short at sweet.
After visiting RCA, I began following Hope King @www.elementaryshenanigans.com very closely. Her ideas were amazing and her passion are contagious! She and Deanna Jump present the Get Your Teach on Conference, which I was dying to go to. The idea had been bounced around between Hope and I about how much we would love to go, but tickets to the nearest event had been sold out months before we started looking into it. Then comes a Sunday night in January. An Instagram post about seats being available for GYTO Nashville is posted. A few texts and bribed husbands later, two tickets were bought and a hotel was booked.
That weekend in Nashville forever changed my as a teacher. I was challenged, inspired, and rejuvenated. If you have an opportunity to go, GO!
So this year was a year of many firsts for me. I tried so many new things and yes, sometimes they failed and I went down in a blaze of glory. But, I learned and grew and so did my students.
My challenge is, how will you grow and change as a teacher? Don't settle for mediocrity, strive for metamorphosis! Your students deserve it, you deserve it. Accept the challenges, {yes, sometimes they make you cry and question your sanity} push forward, and be the educator you always dreamed you'd be. 💟
P.S. Only 14 days until summer break!
Syd
P.S. Only 14 days until summer break!
Syd
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