1) In our classes now, we're learning about all of these awesome progressive ideas, but we still fear resistance from the outside world. And this is rightfully so! I met a lot of incredible people this weekend, but I have to tell you that all of our teaching philosophies varied. It wasn't the happy-go-lucky world of teaching that so many of us crave but aren't sure actually exist. Oppositely, some of the teachers I met were able to get away with all sorts of things in their classrooms and their classrooms were successful. Others feared what would happen if they loosened their reins. One important piece of advice I learned this weekend is that we have to be passionate. Of course we're all taught this and told that if we don't have any, we should probably find a different career. But as I sat around hearing the stories from all sorts of teachers, I realized everything they did stemmed out of passion. Whatever we do in life, do it passionately.
2) Network, network, network! The theme of this weekend was Community Through Collaboration. Even as a preservice teacher entering this big conference filled with veterans in the field, they were all willing to hear and appreciate the ideas I brought to the table. Although most of them weren't nearly as progressive as my philosophies are, they quickly realized that I had some valuable information to offer them and vice-versa. I couldn't possibly list all of the great advice and lessons I learned this weekend in this single blog post. In an age of technology, networking and community collaboration can be done in a blink of an eye. (After all, think about you simply reading this blog post that I just offered.) Get out there and start networking! Don't be afraid to talk to people and bounce ideas around. On the right hand side of this blog is a link to the English Companion Ning, check that out! Create your own website and link to others. This is the world wide web people!
3) We need to stop talking about the 21st century like it's not here. We keep talking about all of these skills that students of the 21st century need to have, but we seem to almost seem to forget for a second that we're actually already here in that century! We need to make sure we're harnessing these skills in our own lives and the lives of our students if we expect them to be prepared for life beyond school. Hello 2011!
Of course now, let me tell you about one last crucial thing I learned this weekend. There is no other time than right now. Do you hear me? This is our moment, right now. Not tomorrow, not a month from now, but right this second. I don't know about the rest of you, but lately it seems like life is a freight train completely whizzing by me and I can barely stay on track. And while we need to be looking ahead and be preparing for the future, we cannot forget that we're here today. I think too often we get so caught up in all the planning that we forget to live a little in the moment. I realized this when I drove four and a half hours along the turnpike between here and Pittsburgh and then back. Although I was soaring by at 65 miles per hour, I took time to slow my mind and realize how incredibly beautiful the changing colors of fall were. For those of you who haven't driven the western half of the PA turnpike, prepare yourself for four mountain tunnels and twisty roads bending with the mountainsides. In the midst of the traffic, Thursday's rain and the chaos of life swarming in my mind, I took a moment to glance out the windows and notice all of the beautiful colors of trees in the valleys to the left and right. Oranges, reds, yellows, purples, browns, grays, greens. It made me realize how fast I'm living and how quick I'm dying. In a moment of all of the craziness flocking around us, I just ask you to take a moment and literally stop to smell the roses (or see the changing colors of fall). We're here today: so live passionately and do good. We don't know if we'll have tomorrow.
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