#RuralEdChat is a chat that focuses on the needs of the rural educator. This chat has been revised by Tammy Neil (@MathNeil), John Martin (@edventures) and Natalee Stotz (@nataleestotz).
As a one-time Washingtonian myself, I was sorry to see the news about the Amtrak train derailment in your home state, Matt. My thoughts are with Washington. #RuralEdChat
So we'll be time-traveling back through the year tonight. We are looking forward to hearing your reflections. Hard to believe 2017 is coming to a close! #ruraledchat
A1) Probably confidence. I've never been shy with students, but as a one-class-a-day teacher, I'm only now getting to the point where I plan a lesson and then mostly say, "yup, this is the stuff". #RuralEdChat
A1 I re-visioned how I can best contribute to school ecosystems. The journey away from the classroom & school library has become more focused for me. #RuralEdchat
A1: I've also felt compelled to get more involved in the administration of the district from the vantage point of a T via union & site council & board & district meetings. There's been growth there. #watchingthewatchers#RuralEdChat
I think if we had a Venn diagram with your comment about your wider-deeper perspective & my increased role in district management we'd have ourselves a nice big overlap. #RuralEdChat
Can you target all three of those groups with similar messages? Or does mindfulness for admins need a lot of tuning to work vs. the approach for students, etc? #RuralEdChat
Especially as a non-core subject, I'm always looking to grow mindfulness in myself, my students, and especially my admins with our learning processes #RuralEdChat
l
Great Q, Matt. So far we've had teachers and students practicing together. The group experience can be really meaningful. Not sure about admins...that's in early iterations! #RuralEdChat
A1 We have this great principal. She's #stillwatersrundeep. I've had some family problems this year & thought it would be imperceptible to anyone at work, but she sniffed me out & called me out on it in the most caring & supportive way. That was a surprise. #RuralEdChat
A2 That my capacity to connect is shifting and deepening in different ways. I used to see "connected educator" wrt to technology. I'm expanding my definition to include more connection to self and community. #ruraledchat
Yes! I have been at this for some time - not encountered it like this before. Similar words are heard throughout the region. Concern it may lead to mass exodus. RuralEd does not need that.
#RuralEdChat
#RuralEdChat # 1 I want to add something - gently stepping in a wide circle around this topic. For some, the current political climate is exciting/fresh/positive, but for some it is disturbing/toxic/negative.
A2) a couple big epiphanies: I'm blessed to not teach a subject with standardized testing. How hard some of my students lives are to live. How much of an impact one person can have on the entire edu process. #RuralEdChat
#RuralEdChat #2 For those in the latter category, it has taken a toll akin to something more like personal loss or family problems. And that is just one layer.
#RuralEdChat # 3 The staff - credentialed & classified - are falling to not only the bottom of the county pay scale, but also the scale for the state of CA.
#RuralEdChat # 4 We're in a low-socioeconomic/high-need area with drugs, domestic abuse, trauma, post-fire recovery, and so on. The school district, in this rural area, is the center of all that in many ways.
A3 Growing my PLN, including finding #RuralEdChat! I might be a broken record about how I'm a non-teacher stepping into a classroom in a school/non-profit partnership, but seriously, I've had so much to learn about being an educator, and all of the chats are so helpful!
#RuralEdChat # 5 We're in that kind of district where the staff all were multiple hats and do double-triple-quadruple duty. Even with the best of intentions and goodwill, all that adding up takes a toll on people, wears them down.
I feel that & a half too. This is a small group chat, but it is the warmest & closest to my, what, world view? soul? experience? so I find myself most consistently returning to #RuralEdChat.
Which brings us back around to our purpose, yes? That's why we have #RuralEdChat. To connect, to collaborate, and, hopefully, solve these problems, if even in tiny measures and steps. I'm looking to you, people! ;-)
A4: I conquer so many fears every day. Most don't see my insecurities, but they are there every day. Each day I start again. Not always easy to live up to your own expectations. #RuralEdChat
A4 I trusted that working outside of schools to develop something that may ultimately help others is the right path for me. #stillscaredeveryday#ruraledchat
A4 My fear of failure. I've always been able to say "failure is important to learning", but this was finally the year I've been able to really embrace it for myself. #RuralEdChat
A4 Maybe I need to get more specific, but one of my core personal philosophies is not to live & act in fear. That's not to say I don't fear. I do. A lot. But it is a daily work of mine not to live a life informed by fear. #RuralEdChat
Oh, man. Now we are going to have to deflate his ego. :-) Kidding aside, Nathan is someone every educator should know. He has a mind for learning like very few. #RuralEdChat#MyFriend
I see people who do live & act in fear & I see what it does. It leads to negatively compounding things like limitations & anger & intolerance & a personal short-leash. Choosing to fight fear & walk thru it is freeing. I sound like a NoCal granola-cruncher, don't I? #RuralEdChat
It is soul work. I have always said that I believe teaching to be a professional mission. We are professionals on a mission. And I mean that in both the practical & the spiritual sense. We both heed a calling & work w. purpose towards an important goal. #RuralEdChat
One of my many rallying cries or hills to die on or just the most common noise I make - don't know if @Rural_Schools will remember this - is that we need to find ways to increase the perception of professionalism in this profession. I feel very strongly about that #RuralEdChat.
In reply to
@SJ_Grubb, @937Nathan, @LindaAragoni, @Rural_Schools
As we wind up the last #RuralEdChat of 2017, our team hopes you and your family have a great holiday break. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you all on January 9th!
A5: As a veteran math teacher in the high school, I stepped out to truly hear the students voices. I have had my students journaling using prompts that are learning/environment focused - not math. It is a safe place process where they share gold nuggets for me.
#RuralEdChat
