There is something my dear Dad says to me once in awhile when I begin to complain about what others have done. He will say "You know, comparison leads to discontentment". I used to sit there and say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah" but never really understand what he was trying to tell me. It wasn't until I read a blog by Vicki A. Davis that I really began to appreciate my father's wisdom. Here is what Vicki had to say that helped me change my mind:
"Don't let your self-comparison of yourself to others let you get down and quit".
"Your blog post, your tweet, though it may be less frequent than a complete cycle of moon phases is still a contributor to the entire equation".
"Keep it up, teacher. Keep sharing. Do what you can. Share what you can".
This class actually used to bother me quite a bit. I would hate when I would post something, and then other people would blog about the same thing or use the same program as me without giving me any credit (when in reality, they probably got the idea from somebody else anyway!) I am competitive by nature and it bothered me that classmates were using my "so-called stuff". When you take a step back and actually think about it for a minute, I was being incredibly stupid. I am so accustomed to handing in an assignment, getting it back with a mark, and then discussing with my friends what marks we all got. Up until now, that was what learning was all about-- a subjective grade given by a teacher who decided how well you did based on personal opinion and pre-conceived notions about you. And that final mark given to me at the end of the semester was my indication of how well I supposedly learned. Why did we have to learn in private? When should learning ever be private? And how can we put a grade on learning? I have never learned so much in my entire life until taking this class, and it was through sharing. Just like teaching, learning needs to be wide open and full of networking. Instead of handing in that assignment to one teacher, I am handing it in to the world and saying, "Take a look at me and what I think". It is incredibly empowering when you think about it.
I really did use to hate sharing. I hated sharing my markers in Kindergarten, I hated sharing my books with friends (heaven forbid they bend the spine or one of the pages), and I especially hated sharing my work with classmates. But suddenly, none of these things matter to me anymore. In fact, somewhere between my weirdness as a child, and my awkward teen years, I learned to love sharing. And because of this course, I have learned to love sharing my work and my ideas. In truth, if it wasn't for my classmates sharing their ideas, I would not have managed to get through all those tech tasks!
In just a few short days I am about to enter my new life as a beginning teacher, and I am a bit frightened. However, I know I can do it, because there are millions of teachers out there who are doing it every single day. I know I am not going to be perfect, and I know I am going to make a lot of mistakes-- but that is the beauty of it, and the beauty of learning! You just keep going, and never give up on the possibilities you can achieve.
(shaeby05's photostream)
19 comments:
I've been trying to incorporate a similar idea into my life: the best competition for yourself is you. No one is more evenly matched. Aim to be better tomorrow than you are today, and you'll always have a challenging but obtainable goal.
Referring specifically to whether or not one's blog posts have value, this also comes to mind:
http://www.pearsonified.com/2006/10/how_can_10_simple_articles_change_your_life.php
The basic idea is that just by adding more content to your site, you are creating a stronger resource than the person who doesn't add content. (It's not purely about quantity, though; quality is important, too.)
Hey, loved your post, I got her via @shareski's tweet. I strongly echo your statement about why should we ever learn alone. We don't! I am beginning to question whether we should ever teach alone either. With so many good people who are available to us via the internet we can get and use their help to impact our classrooms and teaching! Keep up the good work and lots of luck in your future learning!
Thank you both for the comments. It really solidifies that I am not alone in learning.
So true! I have too was always reluctant to share because I didn't want anyone to "steal my ideas". But I think through sharing we all develop and grow further are people and educators. Thanks for sharing! :)
Great post! Just followed the backlinks from my blog to here! Great work!
You are totally right on and this post will be featured on my blog tomorrow morning.
I think your reflections really hit on the evolution of learning and sharing. GREAT work! You are an eloquent blogger. GREAT JOB!
OH, and who is your professor and what course is this for?
Check out the course description...
http://education.uregina.ca/technology/ecmp355/index.html
Vicki, I can not believe you just read my blog post about you. WOW! What an amazing feeling. You are an amazing writer! My professor is Dean Shareski, and the class is called ECMP 355 (Ed Computers). It is an education class centred on incorporating technology in your classroom.
Jaclyn, thanks for your postings. I've been teaching for 40 years and this is some of the most inspirational reading I've done in a while. I'll be sharing it with my colleagues at the American School of Paris, France!
Fantastic blog post! I just read an article today for research that discusses two mindsets about literacy practices (Blogging as Participation: The Active Sociality of a New Literacy). Lankshear and Knobel (2006) state that "The world is very different from before and largely as a result of the emergence and uptake of digital electronic iner-networked technologies." It goes on to mention that there is "focus on collective intelligence" where space is "open, continuous and fluid." You will continue to learn and share with others along the way as we all develop social/professional relations through new literacy practices. Good Luck!
Dear Jaclyn,
What a great post.I found your post on Viki Davis' site. It's funny because I had just posted a comment that offered the same sentiment. The question was why do teachers cling to e-mail and avoid discussion boards. I want to thank you for putting much better than I did. Good luck with your studies.
Excellent post. Last year, my wikicentric class was all about sharing and cooperating but this year's has issues. That viewpoint is frustrating. Competition provides little good in the end and sharing is not giving away but bringing back to you in ways that are immeasurable. I would not be where I am without sharing and having been part of a sharing culture.
I love this epiphany you've had! This is the first step of many towards an exciting teaching career! I've talked about sharing among teachers on my blog too: http://forcuriousteachers.blogspot.com/2009/04/advice-for-new-teachers.html
I've had this post open in a tab for three days and I'm finally getting around to reading it.
LOVE IT! You hit the nail on the head. Teachers and students shouldn't do thinks in isolation.
On another note, I co-teach a very similar grad school class and I hope that we are making a similar impact on the students that we are teaching.
My next stop is to read the course description that you posted a link to.
Fantastic! The best of luck for you Jaclyn. You have started on the right track. I have been an EFL teacher for the past 20 years now and only recently did I start using more Technology and Web 2.0 in the classroom. I used to be the same - always "afraid" of sharing my gems - Good Lord. I now have been struggling to incorporate this new idea into our teaching practice. I teach at a Binational Center in Franca-SP-Brazil and most of my colleagues are pretty much resistent to change. Anyway, I got to read your post via the CoolCatTeacher blog, which I follow like the bible (lol) and everything you've written here is trulty inspiring. Hope to read more and more. Remeber sharing IS caring.
oh my goodness! This amazing writer is being taught by the equally amazing wannabe vegan shareski? What a small world indeed!
How lucky you are! At first, I thought I wrote this blog post when I saw it on my reader as I subscribe to Vicki Davis blog. However, it has taken me many many more years to realize the power of sharing. You get so much more back.
To share or not to share that is the question. . . Here is my issue. Life is a competition, as teachers, workers, students we are all trying to make a difference. Whether it is to influence people around you, get that better (not necessarily higher paying) job, or to get that high mark. When you post your ideas online I have no problem with someone else using them but I do have it when it is at my own expense. For example you are at a job come up with a great project idea. You tell a colleague about it and they take the idea and get rewarded for it with a higher position. That is not hypothetical in this competitive world it is fact. I guess the issue is who do you share with. Is it only people outside of your business or school? Or is that still too close, only outside your division? As I said before, life is a competition, how can I justify giving someone else a competitive edge over me?
I just absolutely love this post. You have hit on the very essence of learning. Absolutely amazing!
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