As the school year is just around the corner I am recommitting myself to blogging about my experiences in a school going through a transformational time. This post (and probably those to follow) will be different from my past posts, less refined but hopefully more authentic. In the past I wrote many blog, but left them unpublished because I just didn't feel there were real world ready. Well, this summer I was bludgeoned by the obvious reason why I need to change self imposed restriction to sharing.
Once again this summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend ISTE 2014 international conference and the Great Plains Google Summit. Just as expected, they were just what the doctor in terms of re-energizing me and reminding me of just what we need to move our educational systems from 'good enough' to 'the best it can be'.
During the ISTE 2014 conference I had the opportunity to listen to Phil Hansen (@Philinthecircle) talk about 'Embracing the Shake' If you do nothing else after reading this blog, then watch this TED talk about discovering your true limits. He posits that 'In order to limitless, we must first be limited'. How can each of us Embrace Our Shake to make the classes and schools we work in be the best they can be for students.
http://youtu.be/YrZTho_o_is
The keynotes at these sessions all spoke of the importance of letting go of our fear of failure. As educators we tend to be a conservative bunch. By nature we want to succeed and help others succeed. However, stop to consider the fact the in the real world, failure is where we learn the most impactful lessons. Check out this video from the Google Summit Keynote Speaker Jia Jiang (@Jia Jiang)
http://youtu.be/ZFWyseydTkQ
Rejection and failure are what shape us to better next time. We need to live our life in Beta mode. We need to model for students that it is ok to fail so long as we evaluate our venture and do better next time. Education has been a cumbersome beast when it comes to change and moving in the way the real world does. (Remember we educators are conservative by nature). So many times we rob the world of our gifts because we fear failure. So many times we limit opportunities for students because we fear our inability to provide the perfect experience for them. It is time we stop allowing our own fear as educators be the limiting factor for our students.
Good thoughts. This is key to improving our school and to increasing the degree of fulfillment we experience as educators.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bill for taking the time to read my blog. I think the more often we as educators are willing share our 'unfinished product', the better it will make our finished products. Thanks again for the comment.
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