It’s hard to believe this is the final week of #IMMOOC. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our journey than to highlight some of the amazing posts I’ve read along the way. I thought carefully about the title of the blog because the experience was about both sharing our own stories of learning AND learning from and connecting with others. This wasn’t just my journey or your journey- it was OUR journey. Of course we all grew individually, and our collective commitments are what made #IMMOOC the experience that it was.

Here are 3 posts that I choose to celebrate today!

1. Reboot Number Three from Classroom Confessional by Brady Venables @BradyVenables

I think it is amazing that Brady has been through this process three times. This time around, she chose to speak about connections between The Innovator’s Mindset and Brene Brown’s Braving the Wilderness. In this post, Brady wrote about the adversity that she faces in her position as a technology integration specialist. I was inspired by her vision of leveraging her position to move far beyond the integration of technology to a true shift in education. She spoke about change in a deep way. In order to really shift education, we need to shift belief systems. Brady speaks bravely about having courage to speak up honestly against complacency in order to provide a student centered approach to learning for our kids. It reminded me that I need to continually reflect on my impact and my courage to speak truth and ask questions to move the needle forward.

Image from: http://www.venablesandclark.com/single-post/2017/09/26/IMMOOC-Reboot-number-three

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2.  Just One Thing from Outside of My Classroom by Lori Faas @teacherlor 

In the post, Just One Thing, Lori shares about a practice that she used to implement that she decided to discontinue. She wrote about requiring reading logs in past practice. It completely resonated with me because I am living this right now with my daughter. Just like Lori, I’m sure that this teacher does it because others do too, and she believes that it will improve reading in some way. Instead, the required reading log has taught me to set my alarm for Sunday night so I don’t forget and to get a few different colored pens (or a pen and pencil) to make it look like we randomly fill it out every night. All of the parents that don’t fill out the log will get a reminder email to turn in reading minutes or there will be some very disappointed kids (they won’t get to move their character forward in the reading marathon posted on the wall.) It actually takes some of the joy out of reading. I appreciate Lori’s vulnerability in sharing that practice and her journey through reflection and realization that there are other ways to get kids excited about reading!

Image from: https://outsideofmyclassroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/just-one-thing-immooc.html

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3. Health First  by Annick Rauch @AnnickRauch

This post!! I appreciate the raw emotion in Annick’s post. She was so brave in sharing connections she made to health and mental health in #IMMOOC Week 6. I am still very new at blogging and struggled at first when trying to decide how much of my personal side would come through in my “professional education” blog. We are human. Annick reminds us so beautifully of that. I also connect personally with this post, also suffering the loss of a child. I went directly from my 35 week growth check appointment where I was given devastating news, to my school. Why? Because I would be gone for the next several weeks and there were lesson plans to be done and people to take care of. Like Annick said, “we get attached to these kids, so naturally, we worry!” Thank you, Annick, for reminding me that sharing our personal journey helps us connect as educators AND as humans! I will always remember that! We owe it to ourselves and everyone around us to put our health first and take care of each other.

Image from: http://www.annickrauch.ca/learningenvironment/health-first/