![Growing Hope]()
by Krissy.Venosdale | May 24, 2014 | Reflect
Whether you are an elementary teacher, a high school math teacher, a college professor, a district administrator, an instructional coach, or a mentor… no matter your role, it’s the same. We are all learners. Connected by the threads of working each day to understand the world, to connect to each other, to make new meanings, and to grow hope. To do our part. Support, dream, make a difference. It’s no small task. It can overwhelm with struggle just as quickly as overwhelm with joy. Education is not for the faint of heart. Education is the heart.
“Great teaching is ending each day,
knowing you have given all that you are,
so that the future can shine a little brighter.
It’s continual hope, in the midst of struggle.
It’s believing in kids.
Connecting with colleagues,
planting the seeds of dreams.
And being on a neverending Learning Journey.”
![I Was Just a Girl In a Dial Up World]()
by Krissy.Venosdale | May 22, 2014 | Reflect
When I think of when I first started teaching, my website was a static page, with way too many .gifs and that annoying midi music that blared out when the page loaded. The page was more of a bulletin board that rarely changed and didn’t contain a lot of photos. The only “interactive” piece what a button to send me an email. I was sooooooo innnovative. I taught in a dial up world. At home? That page took almost an entire day to load – because hey, I’ve always loved my graphics. None of my students had access to smartphones, because they didn’t exist in that world. The school had one projector we only used on special occasions and it took an act of skill and luck to get it to connect to a laptop.
Fast forward 12ish years… and whoa. Our kids are interacting with the world. Publishing work for a global audience. Connecting with classrooms, in real time, through free videoconferencing software. There are ipads to motivate the reluctant reader with interactive books. There are apps to encourage creativity and choice. There are projects and interactive boards to allow kids to be an engaged part of the discussion rather than a passive listener.
Our kids are global citizens. As we think about digital citizenship, we need to be careful that we don’t make details like “citing sources” a classroom rule. It’s not about more rules for kids. It’s about being a good person, doing good things, and sharing work that is an example of the good you offer the world. Our schools are like the training wheels to try out technology in a safe environment, getting a feel for the balance and learning how to make technology work for you. Practice, patience, and quality integration will all lead the way.
I can’t even believe I was just a girl teaching in a dial up world, and now I’m part of a connected living breathing ecosystem of learning that lives 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The discussions we must have with kids and the things we must model for them have changed in the way we share our stories and connect. We can’t ignore that. We have to live it and be models of it. But the thing that hasn’t changed? Do good. And everyday is an opportunity to encourage just that.
by Krissy.Venosdale | May 19, 2014 | Reflect
If you’ve read my blog for more than 2.3 seconds, you know that I have a passion for exposing kids and colleagues to STEM, or as the trend is now to call it, STEAM. It doesn’t matter to me what acronym is used. It matters to me that our schools are filled with experiences. Innovation. Bringing dreams to life. Launching ideas. Developing solutions. Building better learning environments. STEAM is authentically infused in learning when we pay attention. STEAM is our world. Connections and understandings. Creating meaning out of what we wonder and what we know. STEAM is the stuff learning is made of.
Today I got some amazing news. I’m going to a NASA Social! <insert child-like learning excitement and joy>. On June 9-10, I’ll be at NASA Wallops in Virginia for the launch of the Antares rocket. Even better? A great friend of mine from Honeywell Space Academy for Educators and from the NASA Zero G experience, will be there at the launch because her students are sending their experiment up to the ISS. Yes, THAT ISS, the one in space. It’s part of the Student Space Flight Experiment Program.
Pinching myself. Feeling lucky for the fantastic summer learning opportunity and ready to be inspired by seeing real-world examples of 21st century learning and innovation that I’ll be able to bring back to school. And that once again, collaboration with teachers I’ve met around the world, has led to even more meaningful learning. I truly believe every adventure leads to learning, if you keep your eyes and ears open. For the record, my eyes and ears are wide open. I’m ready to see the launch and behind the scenes at NASA Wallops, and cheer on the amazing teams of students that I know have worked hard on this project. I’ll be wearing their mission patch proudly, because I know the passion their teacher, Mrs. Heins, has poured into this project and into STEAM in her school.
I hope through sharing this experience, you might see that a NASA Social could lead to exciting new curriculum for your classroom. Or, you might find that your school wants to get involved in the Student Space Flight Experiment Program. Or? You might just remember how exciting learning really is when you see that 3-2-1…. LIFTOFF. And it IS exciting. Something we can never forget.
by Krissy.Venosdale | May 11, 2014 | Reflect
I’ve driven by this field of deadish looking grass and wildflowers hundreds of times. It’s right behind our house. We pass it every morning and every afternoon, and multiple times on the weekend. But this afternoon? I yelled, “Pull over!” My husband is used to it by now. He knows what that means. I’ve spotted someplace to take photos. I jumped out and took some random shots of the tiny yellow wildflowers sprinkled all through the field. I found the bright red ones, just a few, nestled in the middle.
I know the end of the school year can be a challenge. The days become longer. The to-do list gets so out of control that you just aren’t sure what to try to accomplish in a day. You teach with the bittersweet thought that you’re about to say goodbye to another group that you’ve built a strong relationship with. It’s a happy, sad, exciting, and exhausting part of the year. But, take time to notice. The things you see everyday? Look closer. Slow down. Stop and have that conversation with a student. Look to see just how far your students have come this year. Celebrate their growth. Celebrate your growth. Take your class out for a picnic. Enjoy these last days of school. There is good all around you, if you take the time to look.
And I’m glad I did today. Those flowers? They were ordinary wildflowers. But I saw so much more when I really took the time to see them.
by Krissy.Venosdale | May 11, 2014 | Reflect
I’ve always said that my daughter has made me a better teacher, but the truth is, she’s made me a better person.There is really nothing easy about being a working parent. Your home is always messier than you’d like it to be, your breakfasts are less grand and more cereal in a bag on the way to school. You have dinner from the drive through in the car some nights. You see “Pinterest life,” and you sometimes wonder if your own is falling so short that it makes you a failure at motherhood. It’s the mom guilt. Your heart sinks a little when your own mom has to step in for an open house or a classroom party that you just can’t be at. Sometimes your late nights at school events prevent you from tuck-ins and you get the pleasure of finding her when you sneak into her dimly lit bedroom and see her little face, sleeping peacefully under the glow of her nightlight. Every return from a conference trip is met with a giant hug, and lots of stories, and a twinge of guilt that you missed something while you were gone. You struggle like crazy to wrap things up at your own school, so you can be the mom who pops into the holiday party or shows up early with snack for a birthday… a snack you probably forgot to order because your to-do list is 18 pages long and have to run and pick up some expensive set of cupcakes at the local mini-mart on the way. You go to work feeling sick so you can save your personal days to be there for a field trip, and it’s so worth it.
You remember, all too clearly, that first day you drove to school, leaving your sweet baby in the arms of another, so that you could go do the work you believe in. You probably cried walking away, feeling like your heart was breaking. It was. You probably cried again when you reached into your purse at lunch and found that extra binkie. You wondered if that made you a horrible person, that you were pouring your heart into other people’s kids, and leaving your own baby behind.
But that just isn’t the way it was, or the way it is. That work you pour your heart into? They are your kids, too. Those colleagues you love? They are like family that you are on a big learning journey with. At some point, you just realize that your heart is big enough to love all of it. You realize it’s important. It matters. You are a mom who is doing work that she believes in. And that? It’s teaching your own child so very much. Whether you are a teacher, a principal, or in another field, it’s work that matters. She sees it. She sees you doing it all. She doesn’t care if life doesn’t look like “Pinterest life.” She sees something more. Something she won’t be able to put into words for many years likely.
Every kid I’ve cared for, every teacher I’ve worked with, every trip I’ve taken, and every crazy teaching adventure I’ve been on, I’ve always had one big hope. I hope that she sees what it all means. I hope that in my passion she learns to find her passion. I hope that she sees in my work and my art, I’m doing what I love and finding that thing in life that you love, the thing that drives you? It’s what life is about. I hope she understands that when I’m away on a trip, I miss her like crazy and her airport hugs, and the way my husband always takes care of things while I’m gone, are the best thing to come home to. I hope she knows that while I’ve been busy trying to teach her about life, she’s taught me even more. She’s taught me how to listen. She’s shown me what it means to pour your soul into something. She’s helped me see other perspectives in a while new way. She’s taught me that the little things matter most of all. Most of all? She has taught me to love bigger and dream farther. She’s taught me that life is built on broken hearts, Pokemon collections, chasing dreams, and catching fireflies. It’s love. It’s about what matters.
And that’s what happens. This post is titled, “What I hope I teach her…” and it was going to be all about being a mom, and what I hope I show her as I work hard in education and life. But it turns out that she’s the one who taught me so much more than I ever thought possible.
And that? It makes me grateful for every single moment. The happy, the hard, and everything in between. Because the love and the passion for life? It’s bigger than I ever imagined. And that’s been the most important lesson of all.
