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You wake up, blurry-eyed, in the early hours of a Saturday morning in what has been a frigid and dreary November. You should be sleeping in, at least, that’s what you tell yourself. Yet, despite your need for rest, you’ve embarked on a year-long professional development, which means no sleeping-in for you this morning. ‘It’ll be worth it,’ you quietly mumble to yourself, trying to recall the exact moment in time that you stopped being a morning person.
As you take your first step outside and your first breath of the winter cold, the morning sun reflects off the fresh layer of snow and into your eyes. Momentarily blinded, you ‘birdbox’ your way to the car. ‘Coffee,’ you think to yourself as you and the car attempt to warm up together: a strange thought, considering you’re not a coffee drinker. Better make that warm cup a double-double since you haven’t developed an affinity for the taste.
Once in the province’s capital, and only after missing your turn and having to recheck your email for the directions, it dawns on you that you never actually made note of which building the conference is being held in. This isn’t the first time you’ve done this. You vow to change. It won’t be the last.
Upon finding your way, the caffeine has been taking its effect. Good thing too, as you are about to get the full Cohort 21 experience: buckle up and get ready for a ride.
And what a ride it was! By the end of it, you will have honed your focus for the rest of the year and have considered potential solutions to the initial ideas that you’ve been battling to overcome. Note, you haven’t always been winning this battle, but today was a massive victory.
It’s tough to imagine, but your realization wasn’t the only highlight of the day. You met and learned from your experienced coach, spoke with Cohort heavyweights about their own action plans, learned that it’s possible to reduce the 72 English curriculum standards to only 25, and exchanged lunch with a bright and budding Educelebrity. What a ride, indeed.
The day begins to wind down and you consider your new charge as you embark on the remainder of your Cohort journey; how might we shift student thinking from marks to skills by offering individualized feedback during conferencing in a timely manner and still engaging the other learners in the classroom? Your potential solution: give video conferencing a thought! While you realize that these ideas might change, you are open to the solutions that might come from this process.
As the session ends and your fellow Cohorters leave with their own action plans, you notice that the coffee has completely worn off and you are completely worn out. Yet as you step outside a little more optimistic on that November afternoon, you reflect on this morning. Your eyes can see a little more clearly, the air feels a little fresher, and you confidently claim, “it was so worth it.”
Follow @Bjeblack and let me know how I might rethink or hone my action plan further!
Next time, you’ll have to stick around to reflect more in person Brandon!
@bblack You just made my day 🙂