First Attempt at F2F

 

 

My first attempt at blogging feels somewhat daunting and just a bit revealing. But, in the hopes of becoming a better ‘reflector’, I will embrace the headspace of ‘inviting others’ to join me on my learning journey, epic fails and all! 

My new learning journey started at 4:37am on Saturday morning when I woke up worried about what to wear to the first Cohort 21 Face 2 Face session. I felt like I was going to be the only new kid on the first day of school. Who would I sit with? What if the teachers are mean? What if they can’t pronounce my last name?! At 5:07am, I realized that I needed to draw from 15 years of teaching experience (and 50 years of life experience) and just chill. So, I decided that comfortable was the appropriate attire and hit the highway. But being the eager learner that I am, I arrived at the York School unfashionably early and blew any chance of being the ‘cool’ new kid.

During the opening session of Cohort 21, I met a group of dedicated professionals who were ready to dive head first into their journeys, and a few brave souls shared their biggest teaching fails. Clearly, failure is nothing to be ashamed of and can be considered a ‘first attempt at learning’. I often encourage my students to take risks, be wrong and fail. I sometimes even build failure into my lessons. But to advertise failure (in public!) felt weird and freeing at the same time. I shared my epic fail with a small group and realized that I am not the only, nor the first, teacher to mess up a lesson.

The day continued along a winding path and challenged my desire to have some quiet, alone time. But, being an introvert with serious FOMO, I soaked up the collective wisdom in the room and found myself feeling renewed about my teaching practice.

My take away from the first F2F session was this: settle into discomfort, enjoy the ride and nobody really cares what you wear.