Urgent vs Important – Reflections on the return to school

 

Question 1: During the first face to face we used the language of Urgent vs Important to help frame our discussions and thinking around the use of TIME. Reflect on why you joined Cohort 21 and your professional goals for this year. Now that the year has begun and you have met your students, what  IMPORTANT  goal might you like to address and leverage this community to get support with.

Cohort 21 offers the chance for me to step out of the classroom and work with other educators towards a common goal.  By doing this, I will be able to address the overall concern of balancing social/emotional growth with learning, not only for my students, but for my own personal well-being.  Being isolated either online or without a teaching partner, which is the norm for a Montessori classroom, has been revealing in many ways.  There are positive and negative aspects of everything for sure; however, being able to collaborate with other teachers from various schools is a valuable way to enhance personal development and growth.

In regards to use of time in either an urgent or important way, joining Cohort 21 could be said to be an urgent use of time.  The process of self-reflection, listening, contributing and sharing is absolutely fundamental in our roles as educators as we cannot expect our students to be reflection, to listen, to contribute and to share unless we are doing it ourselves.  In this way I see the experience as necessary; therefore urgent.

Question 2: Which of the Season 10 Strands did you choose and why? Share what you feel is both urgent and important about it for you and your school at the moment and some of the questions you have around moving forward. Feel free to change strands should you want to.

All strands of this year’s Cohort season are relevant and intriguing which makes it difficult to choose.  After much consideration,  I have chosen, “How might we best engage, support and assess our JK-6 learners both on campus and remotely?”

I have chosen this broad question because there is an urgency to it.  We are tackling this question on a daily basis and all of us are facing the same realities, challenges, joyful moments and reflections that drive us in our efforts to teach, engage, support and assess our students. It is my hope that by being a part of this year’s Cohort 21, I will be able to gain, as well as share,  valuable insights, practical methods, sincere reflections and collegial support.