What resonated from the last video on Week 3 of the #IMOOC was all about going beyond frustrations and being resilient.
When I was watching and sharing with others around me, I felt very connected as the experience was similar for me and for my colleagues. It’s not right to micro-manage students (or anyone). I am sick of “classroom management”, some crazy advises such as don’t smile before Christmas! While this environment of control is not everywhere, it is in MANY schools…there is a “control-freak” environment in public and private schools but it’s not all about leadership because I learn that while innovative leaders make a positive impact on their school, poor leaders can be undermined and teacher-leaders and their followers can slowly inspire and bring in change, from their classrooms to the school and their creativity and empowerment impacts on the culture of a place. This is hard to do but it’s possible.
The maker movement help us really open up doors to students’ agency, voice and choice but it’s not only for maker spaces, we need this design thinking, agency, creativity atmosphere in all classrooms, outside classrooms in corridors and beyond! We also need to be that beautiful inspiration to our students, be the rainbow in someone else’s cloud:
Like George Couros says, engagement is not enough, we need to EMPOWER.
So we must bring in change, starting from doing it ourselves, doing in with our stduents, doing it with our colleagues, in our school, beyond so that 1986 of George Orwell is not the norm in schools…
As educators, many of the times, we cannot be ourselves and grow when an environment is of control. We want to take a moonshot, do something wild and crazy but we hit roadblocks, yet we have the responsibility to be strong and RESILIENT!
SHOW UP and REFUSE to LEAVE like Michelle Cordy said at the ISTE conference 2016 in Denver.
Educators, it’s hard. We know it’s hard. We do it BECAUSE it’s hard. Don’t give up. Let’s keep doing what’s best for kids! Be resilient and because of our global and connected world, share your experiences with others and have like-minded people to VALUE your ideas if they are not valued in your vicinity.
I would also like to share a quick video as part of the #IMMOOC that my colleague and I took together: