Through the Telescope

I am one to be fully honest. Monday and Tuesday of this week felt like an unstoppable roller coaster. I could also safely make the parallel to a tornado, as both days seamlessly blended together. This of course leads to my explanation/excuse (insert whichever you prefer here!) as to why we wind up here together today (Wednesday) starting the week. 

The good news is that this week so far has contributed a lot of learning experiences to my resume, work completion, and networking with others. I'm always amazed at the individual talents and contributions fellow educator colleagues possess. One of the best things about this profession is the endless potential of learning opportunities that arise. For some, learning halts a certain age or time, however I feel that the longer I remain involved, the more I encounter I want to learn and absorb. 

One great resource a fellow officer and friend of mine from KDP shared with me is Canva. Now, full disclosure I have not made my account yet, and therefore expert tips are on hold until later (and feel free to leave your message after the beep.....) However, during my tutorial with her I was truly mesmerized at the possibilities this website offers and how seamlessly it can be woven into other platforms to elevate your work. My friend and I are using it to include engaging graphic organizers, photos, and more into our curriculum we are composing for a course. Creating this from nothing is already a challenge we agreed to face together, but including various elements to entice educators to feel drawn to the course is the icing on the cake. 

Once upon a time, I'd never attempt the challenge of making my own graphics emerge from the blank slate, but rather I'd ask for someone else to create it for me. Like I would say to my students, "where is the fun in that?" and realize my Alice in Wonderland moment that I always give myself good advice, but I don't always follow it. Although I'm never one to turn down support and teachable moments, I'm excited to venture out on my own and explore the options I have. 

Another great resource I'd like to share is purposeful for creating flyers for events at school, your KDP chapter, and more. Using Smore can take your advertising to a new level, and (backed by evidence) increases response of families to important events. I'd like to explore this for events our chapter will be hosting this year for professional development, fundraising, and service, and perhaps use it for the upcoming school year in my classroom as well.

Learning is timeless and as the world keeps turning, and so do the ideas and experiences of others. I always feel that there is something new to understand, stretch growth to explore, and a bar to raise higher to develop another goal to accomplish. 

Lastly, one new opportunity I experienced was participating on a call with a teacher from the Namable School in Kenya along with other sponsors and KDP members who help support the initiative. Being on the call permitted me to stretch my boundaries of teaching past the borders of my own classroom, district, state, country, and (lately) screen. I soon realized that teachers everywhere have been facing challenges beyond our most creatively wild dreams. No fiction story could  match our current reality...Regardless, what unites us is the powerful desire to support our students no matter what the sacrifice. As Evelyn stated so beautifully today before our prayer together "Tough time never last, but tough people always do." 

Final Thoughts: The past few days might have flown by quickly and contained many moving parts, but there's always a basket of takeaways that will last a lifetime and continue to serve their purpose.  Keep learning, keep growing, keep working together...