As I’m sitting here working with @lbettencourt over zoom all i can think of is the 8 million things I need to do currently, from checking student process journals to prepping home demos for science lessons. While I’m doing this, an itching in the back of my mind is constantly saying ‘what about the blog?…. what about your research goal?’ A lot of the time that little itch gets drowned out by other more important things (sorry Cohort 21), but as I look at the calendar and realize that next week is our final F2F I have panicked and realized I didn’t get to even half of the things I wanted to do this year.
Yes I pivoted well, and yes I tried new things, but for the life of me I can’t remember what they are right now. I know I did things and some bombed and some worked great, but again, I have no idea what they are, at this point I can’t remember. I swear I did things, but I cannot tell you what they are. I know I have a huge list of things I want to do, but I’m having a hard time starting them.
All i can do right now is look forward and know that this feeling will not last forever, and remember that if I am feeling this way, my students are probably feeling worse. I also want to try and change my perspective, and look at my looming list with positivity instead of guilt. I want to keep growing and I have a direction, and that in itself is something. So I think I will write a bit more about it and remember these goals as I move forward towards the last few weeks of school. Hopefully after some rest and time to recuperate I will get to this list and come back with excitement to share. To that end here are my goals that I want to reach in the future.
Goals
- To learn to code on Unity and present cool video game design opportunities for my students
- To find new ways to incorporate 3D printing into my math and science lessons
- To work on finding more fun and exciting resources for a maker space and to present these to my peers in an approachable way
- To continue to find more virtual messy STEM and share it out.
- Working on a new way to present learner portfolios that are interactive (credit to @lbettencourt)
This is my direction, although I feel like I lost a year, I will continue to look forward and work towards these. I might not achieve them any time soon, but thinking about them gets me excited and I need to hold on to that. I hope you are all still safe and getting through, please know I’m thinking of you.
Robin
Thank you again for meeting with me this morning.
I have been wanting to learn Unity too. I’ve been spending a lot of time in VR since last August playing Supernatural VR on Oculus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHM_XuOUUxU
This experience of working out has really helped me to stay in shape, regain balance, stability, and control over my body. I live in a small condo, and while in VR I workout in vast open landscapes like beaches in the Maldives, Machu Picchu in Peru, Salt Flats in Bolivia, on the Great Wall of China, and many more. Working out to awesome soundtracks while your trainer gives your inspiring and motivating feedback along the way. I totally want to create immersive, interactive learning experiences, like this one for students.
Let’s stay connected as we explore our own learning journeys and maybe meet up again for another focusmate session.
@rgarand, I’m so into all of these goals. And I wanted to let you know how much I’ve enjoyed reading your blog posts this year. You may think you’ve only done half the things you set out to do, but to the rest of us, you’ve given us several how-to’s on great teaching tools.
I can’t tell you how much this means to me Esther! Thank you so much! Fingers crossed we can get together soon for drinks and pedagogy!
Great goals, Robin!
Regarding 3D printing, we have a design tech lab on campus and have hired an expert in this field to work with faculty on incorporating design tech into classes. I specifically had my Grade 8s design and build a hydraulic device. We worked in the design lab and many students used the 3D printer to make certain components of their device (i.e. had one amazing group building a hydraulic hand). I would be happy to discuss more.
I would love that! Another excuse to get together then! 🙂