For my third Educon, I had fewer expectations: my school district is starting to chafe, so at most I hoped for a few ideas I could implement surreptitiously. But once again, I thought so small, and Educon is so big. One of my favorites session was with Josh Block and Tim Best's kids. They answered all kinds of questions about Project Based Learning, which I have been trying to implement where I can. Doing it on your own when it is not a school-wide strategy can be daunting. But here were these kids, answering rapid fire questions from teachers they did not know all about how their course works, how their learning belongs to them at SLA. I found myself imagining my kids and how high their confidence would rise with this approach. I redesigned my British mythology research project, due to start in 2 weeks, on the way home. Kudos to Josh, Tin and all their kids.
My favorite session was the Standards and Standardization conversation with Diana Laufenberg. And here is where I remembered my own big picture--that teaching is my vocation, not just my job, and I should not let shortsighted policies ever slow me down. We did not find answers, but I met great teachers and with Diana's help, we talked around the problems that don't have answers right now. But they will. The Common Core standards are not great, but they were not spawned in hell either. I will prevail.
And finally, I was not at Educon today because I am sick. This blog post is as coherent as conscious as I have been all day. And I can't miss school tomorrow because I want to see my kids and make some changes. They recharge me. This year, I hardly tweeted, I took no pics, but I remembered who I am, and what I can control. once again, Educon comes through. Thanks. Another cup of tea is coming...
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