I've been pondering this concept of fearless teaching ever since I came back from the ISTE conference in Atlanta a few weeks ago. First of all, you should know that I am a career educator with 22 years of teaching under my belt. That being said, I am not one of those older teachers who casts a cynical eye at new ideas and processes in education. I've always embraced change and made a point to learn innovative techniques and tools that will help my students be successful. I went to the conference because I heard it was a great place to get ideas and learn from leading proponents of technology in education. After the initial feeling of "Wow, this is overwhelming!", I settled in and began to take advantage of the resources made available to me. There was so much that was wonderful, I can't begin to list them all here. Just know that if you get the chance to go to an ISTE conference, for goodness sake, GO! It will expand your horizons. In my case, my experiences transformed the way I think about myself as an educator.
The biggest takeway for me was the power of social media to help teachers become greater than they thought they could be and become part of something bigger. I had been a twitter member since 2011, but I had never really used it. Oh, I followed a few posters looking for STEM and technology tidbits for the classroom, lurking surreptitiously and never really contributing anything. My experiences at the conference helped me to understand that there is a great big network of passionate people out there who are trying to do the same thing I am: fearlessly teach, inspire, and encourage students to find their passion and develop their purpose in life. I needed to reach out to these people! I learned that there are professional learning networks out there that give members worldwide a forum to encourage, debate, teach, and collaborate with each other. I learned that even though I am a practitioner in education, I can still be a scholar too. There are huge ideas out there about how kids should be taught that need to be thoughtfully considered, and I have a voice. I have experience. My ideas matter and I need to make a contribution. If I expect my students to participate interactively in exploring things and ideas they are passionate about, how can I do any less?
So... here is my first blog post as an educator to her peers. I do have a blog for parents that shares ideas about the program I lead, but you and I know that is a totally different kind of thing! We all know it is more intimidating to share our thoughts with our peers, but I'm committed to this, so here goes.
After listening to and reading the works of educational leaders such as Vicki Davis, Jodi Barker, and Angela Maiers, and seeing educators just like me doing amazing things with their kids, I realized that one common factor among them is this idea of "fearlessness". I've never been afraid to try new things as a teacher, but in the various leadership roles I have held in education, I have discovered that many teachers ARE afraid. Very afraid. I decided to dedicate this blog to exploring what it means to be fearless as a teacher and a learner. If that is something you are interested in exploring with me, I invite you to come along for the journey.
