At the end of last year I helped our most veteran faculty member utilize our new LMS of Canvas to administer his Chemistry final. It was an honor and I wanted to be perfect and work hard to match his stellar reputation. So all year we would meet and develop a plan. Then the week before, we really sat down and refined the exam. As I set to copy it from our sandbox course into the live courses I made a mistake that caused us to lose a portion of the final 72 hours before the exam. I was mortified. He worked over the weekend to redo what was deleted and when I went in to profusely apologize thinking he was going to holler at me, he just asked me if I learned from it. I said that I absolutely did. He said that's all that matters and that he personally hopes that he never stops learning. The exam went off without a hitch and he then wrote me a nice email thanking me for all my efforts. As it turns out that was his last day and he retired quietly without telling anyone.
I tell that story because of his line that he hopes he never stops learning. And after 35 years in public education and retirement upon him, I found that to be a profound statement. And as I finish my coursework on my ePortfolio, I realize the work is not done. I have been given choice and I take ownership of that and have found a platform that gives me a voice about how I view education and a place to soundboard the ways I hope to create authentic environments for my students. So I look forward to continuing to grow my ePortfolio. It has become an extension of myself and the act of curating it is very therapeutic much like in my favorite 80s movie, Karate Kid, I want to be like Mr. Miyagi curating the branches of that Bonzai tree. I have a lot of great work to do in education and I have a lot to say about that work. I'm grateful for the opportunity to shine my light for others to see. It gives me continued purpose and allows me to be like Mr. Garman and never stop learning!
I tell that story because of his line that he hopes he never stops learning. And after 35 years in public education and retirement upon him, I found that to be a profound statement. And as I finish my coursework on my ePortfolio, I realize the work is not done. I have been given choice and I take ownership of that and have found a platform that gives me a voice about how I view education and a place to soundboard the ways I hope to create authentic environments for my students. So I look forward to continuing to grow my ePortfolio. It has become an extension of myself and the act of curating it is very therapeutic much like in my favorite 80s movie, Karate Kid, I want to be like Mr. Miyagi curating the branches of that Bonzai tree. I have a lot of great work to do in education and I have a lot to say about that work. I'm grateful for the opportunity to shine my light for others to see. It gives me continued purpose and allows me to be like Mr. Garman and never stop learning!
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