It's All About the Journey

This blog post has been rattling around in my mind for a while and I am hoping it makes sense...

Have you ever noticed when a word is brought into your radar in meaningful way you hear it everywhere? For example, last night, in the college class I teach for future educators, someone remarked, "Ever since you told us about Twitter, it's everywhere!"  I smiled to myself because Twitter has been there for a long time and it has been everywhere....but it wasn't connected to meaning and grounded in reality for those students.  I have been on Twitter for almost a year and I think I was late to jump on the bandwagon.  So, what brought that strange word Twitter to life for the college students is that I talked about it and demonstrated the power it held in education.

Another example is the word, "Journey."  Sure, I had heard it my entire life....perhaps hundreds of times.  But, when I read the book, "The North Star" by Peter H. Reynolds, it was life changing. I realized that the book had a very deep meaning in my life and we truly were all on a Journey.  It impacted me so much, that I named this blog TJ on a Journey! So, what's the point here??  Well, after reading that book, which contained all words I had heard and read a million times, the word Journey was forever changed.  The word contained a deeper meaning for me and I started noticing it EVERYWHERE!  It is used in books, commercials, TV shows, movies and 'real' life. Now, the word jumps off the page if I am reading.  The word held a significant and powerful meaning for me and I noticed it a lot more.

All of this led me to look at the big picture in education.... What words are we leading kids to connect to outside of our classrooms???  It can be a heady or scary thought....  What concepts could we teach better if we could get kids to connect on an emotional level? What dreams could we lift up or shut down? What JOURNEY could we send them on?

I certainly don't have the answers to any of those questions.... but I am going to spend the rest of my days trying to find ways to help my students see the big, beautiful world that being passionate about learning and creativity can open. I might just read "The North Star" to them again to help launch them on a wonderful Journey.  Maybe they will start looking at their own journey and perhaps make choices that lead them on an a more rewarding path.

This blog post is not meant as a commercial, but, by the way, "The North Star" is being rereleased on its tenth anniversary. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It was life changing for me and it just might be for you.  After all, it's all about the journey....     

If you get motivated to purchase the book, use code  AMBSHAY at www.fablevision.com for 10% off.  

Inspire Me

My favorite new program, Animation-Ish, from my friends at FableVision, has a great feature...
A button called, "Inspire Me." When a person is working in the program, they can click on the winged lightbulb and a video featuring Peter H. Reynolds pops up with a short clip with inspiring words or an idea for an animation. This morning, as I am packing away my office and room away for the summer, I am wishing that I had a button like that. It's hard to pack up everything that makes my office feel a little like home and shove it away for two months. Maybe Peter could pop up on a screen in my office and give me the motivation I need to finish the school year (tomorrow at 10 a.m.) and then I could take some time off to get recharged for next year.

So many great things have happened in this last year....along with some struggles. My students were asked to sing the National Anthem at the Iowa Girls State Volleyball Tournament, I was asked to create some lesson plans for Animation-Ish, and at the same time, I had one of the least respectful high school choruses during the first semester. After twenty-two years in the classroom, I understand that everything is cyclical. Good classes come and go. That special kid that makes every day worth teaching will graduate and another will morph into his or her place.

Although this year has been a difficult one for me, I know that in the fall a great group of inspirations will walk through the door of my classroom and start challenging me, inspiring me, and demanding me to be a great teacher. Although I have NO control over what happens outside of room 108, what happens inside is part of my Journey and I control that. SUre, some of the things that happen are still not under my control, but at the very least, I control the way I handle the things that happen. Like the little boy in the North Star book by Peter H. Reynolds, I will follow my path toward my own personal star. I will try to help the kids in my room along their path with as much love and gentle pushing as is necessary.

So, I must find my own inspirations for packing up today... I must get things put away and start the anticipation, the dreaming, and get a firm grasp on hope for next year. This summer I can look forward to personal inspiration with Peter H. Reynolds at NECC and hanging out with my pals in San Antonio. Best of all, I can spend a lot of time imagining new ways to use Animation-Ish and I can hit that "Inspire me" button as many times as I like!