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What's My Passion... Is it Teaching???
That is such a good question right now! If you had asked me that question 12 years ago, my answer would have nothing to do with education. Teaching was never my first choice or even a thought in my head. I was happy running around behind a bar making drinks. My passion at the time was to open my own bakery and do cakes for a living. It was a dream, but that was my passion... I loved doing cakes, but I was making a lot of money behind the bar so I put the bakery in the back of my mind. Then something
happened... I got pregnant. There I was, single and about to have a child. The bar life wasn't what I wanted for my daughter and I wasn't ready to start a bakery and have a baby at the same time, so I decided to go back to school. I figured that teaching would be a good career to have because I would have holidays and summers off with my kid, so I went back to college at the age of 36 and got my teaching degree. I still didn't feel a passion for it though. Then, after my 2nd year, I got a taste of gifted and talented education. For the first time, I felt passionate about teaching. I went BACK to school as a single parent and got my master's degree in GT education. I thought that was it... that was what I was going to do for the rest of my career.
As I was finishing my GT master's, the pandemic started. I had to reshape my teaching. I had to change how I did things and how I taught. I was forced to bring a form of blended learning to life for my kiddos. It was in the middle of this that I found my true passion. Something seemed to come alive inside of me... I was excited about teaching again. Then, the new school year started, all of the kids were back in the school, and my administration told us to back off of the technology and go back to the old ways of teaching (worksheets). They told us they didn't want our students using the computers very much. The thoughts of moving toward blended learning had to be put on hold. I was very sad about this because I felt passionate about giving the students a student centered approach to learning through a blended classroom. I felt like we were being sent in to the past, so I started looking at how to bring my classroom and my school back on the road to 21st century learning. I found a digital learning master's degree and decided to go for it. And just like that.... my passion is awaken again! I'm on my way to move into the 21st century of education again!
Words of encouragement (pep talk) to help you hold on to those passions....
What's Wrong with Digital Learning Today?
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The big question now is... did Covid hurt or help digital learning? It may have cause us to take a few steps backwards on the journey to a blended learning environment. Our students may be on the wrong track and digital learning may have started moving in the wrong direction. According to Adams (2021), "Digital learning should help all educators step into the role of a favorite teacher, not relegate them to being a 'video professor'."
To read his full article, .
During this biggest part of the pandemic, the focus was more on the technology aspect of teaching. The students all got tablets or computers and most of the learning was done on the computers via programs like Seesaw and Google Classroom. Teachers either recorded videos of them teaching and uploaded them for the students to watch or there were lessons via live video teaching. There was no focus on learning, it was more of an "I need to survive this year" kind of vibe. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I am actually a little bit guilty of this to a certain extent. The whole experience, however, has changed my way of thinking about teaching through the use of technology. I want to use the technology as a tool to enhance my student's learning and help them to be more motivated learners.
What is Right/Wrong with Education Today?
Far too often, we measure students' learning in IQ scores, reading levels, standardized test scores, and the level mastery of standards that the state officials (who have never taught before) set. Students are basically a set of numbers or scores. Students are so much more than this and this practice needs to change! We need to stop and think more about how they learn and what we can do to
help them be successful in school and in life. Angela Lee Duckworth did a TED Talk about grit that I found to be so profound and inspirational. She defines grit as "passion and perseverance for a very long-term goal" (Duckworth, 2013).
In my opinion, we also need more teachers that have grit!! Teachers are the the best motivators for learning and when they have no grit for learning, how can we expect our students to have it?!
What are Some of My Accomplishments?
I would have to say that I have so many more accomplishments that I am proud of than I ever thought possible. I honestly didn't think I was going to do much with my life until I got pregnant with my daughter. I had become comfortable and complacent with my life in the bar scene. When I had my daughter, I became motivated to be better, to be more. At the age of 36, I went back to school. It was so hard, but I had the drive in me to become so much more and to be a better role model for my daughter. I had many sleepless nights and cried a lot, but I did it. I graduated with my first degree at the age of 39. I got my very first teaching job at the age of 40. I wasn't done... I kept on learning. When I was 42, I went back to school again to get the Master's of Education in Teacher Leadership with a focus of Gifted and Talented. I finished this very first master's a year and a half later.
I STILL wasn't done! Three years later I decided I wanted to go back to school AGAIN. Here I am... now 48 years old and working toward a second master's degree... and I'm still doing it as a single mom. I only hope that all this has inspired my daughter to be a life-long learner!
I will never stop learning and I will never stop striving to be the very best version of myself so I have the best to give to everyone around me.
The Future of Learning
COVA is the future of learning! All students deserve the opportunity to learn using a COVA approach. They all need to have some freedom in their own learning in the form of choice (C), ownership (O), voice (V), and authentic learning (A). Choice refers to the opportunities to have choices in how and what they learn. They need have the ability to take ownership of their learning. They also need to
know that they have a voice with which they can share their learning. Finally, students deserve to be given the chance to have authentic learning opportunities that will be more meaningful for them.
References
Adams, T. (2021, September 23). The shift online could set digital learning back by years. Times
Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/shift-online-could-set-digital-
learning-back-years
COVA approach. (2018, February 14). YouTube. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ft__0LE3qQ
Duckworth, A. (2013, May 9). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance | Angela Lee Duckworth
YouTube. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14bBuluwB8
A pep talk from Kid President to you. (2013, January 24). YouTube. Retrieved February 27, 2022,