The only thing I may ever be an expert on is how much I don't know
As it turns out, that's been a very liberating realization.
After a few years of teaching I hit a comfort zone that put me in cruise control. Things were going well. Why change it up? Courses changed and content was altered so it always remained interesting but how much was I paying attention to my students at my educational 55 MPH pace?
In the past several years, I've read much, continued to discuss education with colleagues, and connected with many people outside my building through social media. The reading has added ideas while the social media has lead to a continuous conversation about ideas from those readings and the discussions themselves.
The net cast by social media has helped fill in a few gaps along the way. It has also created much wider gaps that have lead to the search for further reading and to reach out for further discussion.
The unexpected consequence of gathering knowledge from colleagues both in my building and beyond the walls has lead me to constantly and consciously gather feedback from my students. My search for a sliver bullet outside the classroom led me to find it through pedagogical play with many of these new ideas within it.
After a few years of teaching I hit a comfort zone that put me in cruise control. Things were going well. Why change it up? Courses changed and content was altered so it always remained interesting but how much was I paying attention to my students at my educational 55 MPH pace?
In the past several years, I've read much, continued to discuss education with colleagues, and connected with many people outside my building through social media. The reading has added ideas while the social media has lead to a continuous conversation about ideas from those readings and the discussions themselves.
The net cast by social media has helped fill in a few gaps along the way. It has also created much wider gaps that have lead to the search for further reading and to reach out for further discussion.
The unexpected consequence of gathering knowledge from colleagues both in my building and beyond the walls has lead me to constantly and consciously gather feedback from my students. My search for a sliver bullet outside the classroom led me to find it through pedagogical play with many of these new ideas within it.
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