I am so proud to be a contributing author for Amplify Learning: A Global Collaborative. It is yet another example of the importance of connections in our educational community. I found out about this opportunity through a Twitter post that Matt Rhoads posted a few months back in January 2021. I direct messaged him and asked to find out more. Then, I went about the process of applying to be a contributing author.
I was thrilled to find out a little over a month later that I had been accepted to write a chapter for this book on engagement. This was a great opportunity, but as I started to examine everything that I needed to do, fear crept in. I needed to include academic research- when was the last time I did that? Could I find time to write a chapter while we were completing the editing and publishing of my book? Students were starting to return to our buildings and I needed to help teachers be prepared to use the technology needed for concurrent instruction? Could I really do all this?
As all of these feelings were swirling inside of my brain, I was also reading Jill Siler's Thrive Through the Five. In chapter 2, she discusses "Learning to Dance with Fear." She states how we all have fear and that is to be expected. We need to acknowledge that and lead through it anyways. She continues by sharing that being overwhelmed is just part of the process. Sometimes we just need to begin- take that first step. "We don't need to have all the answers to be equipped to face every fear before it comes. We just need to be faithful in taking that next best step." (Thrive Through the Five, p.31)
This idea also resonated with me as I continue to work on Lindsay Titus' Ignite Your Legacy course. She discusses her 4 As. First, we need awareness of how we are feeling, then we need to acknowledge it. After that, we need to accept what we are feeling and then act. I reached out to both lead editors, Matt and Becky, through email and asked if we could meet. We met later that week, I put my fears out on the table. I shared my fears about the academic research part of the writing and I am so glad that I did. We were able to talk through my fears and come up with an action plan. I was now ready to get started on this exciting project.
So this past week, I have been digging deep into the world of student engagement- reading academic articles and books to add to my current understanding of what truly makes up student engagement. Going into this project, I definitely had some of my own ideas when it came to this concept. If one thing has struck me as I embarked on this project, it is how many resources there truly are when it comes to student engagement. It would be so easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of them. But I also wanted to make sure that I considered other educators' perceptions of this concept as I wrote and researched.
To do this, I created a Menti where I asked educators to share the first three words that came to mind when it came to the term, student engagement. I put the link on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Then, I shared it with members of my PLN over Voxer. I was overcome by how many educators that I have connected with in these groups participated and shared their thoughts. Once again, the importance of connections was front and center in my mind. As of the time of writing this post, 21 educators have participated. The link will be open until April 15th so please take a few minutes and go to https://www.menti.com/knbzxjhme4 and share your ideas.
All of this circles back to the importance of connections. So many things that have happened in the past few months have been a direct result of connections made in my PLN. Back in December 2020 I attended VSTE, while there I learned about UnisonEDU. Like working on this global collaborative project, I was initially full of doubts about applying to be part of this team. I worked past the fear and applied. In the past couple of months, I have gotten so much from my connection to this group. If you are interested in learning more about this group as it grows, please DM me and I would love to share more about this.
Being part of this group, I have learned about so many opportunities and met so many amazing educators. I share a lot about the impact of the Teach Better Team on my professional growth, but this is a new way that I have connected and grown. As a result of being part of this team, I found out the #VABrainstorm21 conference and the chance to apply to do a keynote. Once again, fear crept in and my connections helped me find the resources inside myself to apply. Now, I can't wait until next week when I will be doing my first keynote at this conference.
Opportunities are all around us; we might just not know about them yet. You would be amazed by how the connections that you make can impact not only your awareness of these opportunities, but empower you to take risks that you might have never considered before.
Don't let fear act as a barrier from you taking that next step. You are capable of amazing things- we all are. Take a deep breath and take that first step- you will be amazed where it leads. I know that I have been.
Remember, if you want to attend the Code Breakers Power Summit for FREE, I have three free passes that I will share. Just tag me on Twitter and share at least one way you will learn and grow this month. I will select the winners out of the posts made by April 14th.