A Change Is Gonna Come

Soon I will leave my position as District Instructional Technologist to return to a 4th classroom teaching reading, language arts, and social studies. Most people are astounded when I tell them this and wonder why I would ever return to a classroom. I honestly never thought I'd be anywhere but the classroom; although, this position has been a nice change of pace - I have grown in my leadership capacity; had opportunities to see education from a different perspective; and made/helped make decisions that would affect teaching and learning in our district. Despite all of this, I am headed back to the classroom.

The reason for the change has nothing to do with discontent with my current role. I quite enjoyed the challenge; but, over a year ago, I moved out of state (112 miles from my current district) creating a 4-hour, round-trip commute. Most wondered how long I could sustain in that fashion. I lasted a full school year, plus a couple of months at the end of one and the beginning of this one. Commuting proved to be expensive and physically taxing. So after much prayer and consideration, I began to look for positions closer to home. Ironically, the new school is 66 miles away from home - exactly half of my current commute. It's not as close as I wanted to be, but hopefully, this will be a good fit and an easy transition.

I am not without anxieties. The shifts in content (CCSS and new state frameworks) and grade level will be huge for me. I will also be entering nearly two months after the beginning of the school year which presents its own set of challenges.

During the 2005-2006 school year, I taught in a self-contained 4th grade classroom; however, the standards I used were our old benchmarks. In school year 2006-2007, I taught reading only - still under the old state benchmarks. Since then, the standards for reading and language arts were merged and repackaged as a combined ELA framework. The social studies standards have also changed. Now the Common Core State Standards have been implemented. I spent the following years teaching 6th and 7th grade math and pre-AP pre-algebra and then as District Instructional Technologist since May 2011.

Pray for me as I return to the classroom and continue my travels on a shorter (thankfully) commuting!

Risk-Taking and Failure

I took a class in college, probably the best of all of them, in which the professor encouraged free writing. This was a process that at first proved difficult for me until I learned the importance of the "free"dom in that style of writing. 

I had never allowed myself to take many risks in writing, or in anything else, prior to then. Risk-taking might have resulted in failure and the perfectionist personality I had could not bear the thought. Failure was NOT an option. I grew up in a household where a grade of 97 on a report card resulted in a question - "What happened to the other 3 points?" This didn't elicit much risk-taking.

Caution: Tense Shift Ahead (You've been warned!)

Fast forward to today. My PLN and I encourage risk-taking and FAILs (First Attempts in Learning) in each other. What a paradigm shift! I hope that I can continue in this mindset and encourage the same in my colleagues and students.

If we aren't failing, are we really trying? Are those successes or (non-fails) meaningful? How much more would the eventual (maybe) success mean to us if it followed after multiple unsuccessful attempts? If at first you don't succeed, try, try again! Right?

Grit, determination, and perseverance are three words currently causing a buzz in education circles now. They are not new. My high school AP English teacher called it stick-to-it-iveness. I didn't have it then, but I sure do now!

I encourage you to fail - gloriously, early, and often! Who knows what you'll learn along the way?

P.S. Thank you, Dr. Kristen Tegtmeier Ortel, for encouraging me to take risks! It has changed my life!

P.P.S. Mrs. Nancy Graham-Taylor, you taught me lots of vocabulary and even more about literature and composition. I value the life lessons most of all. You are the reason I am an educator!