The Only Real Mistake

The only real mistake is the one from which do not learn.  

My All Time Favorite Poster

This is what my all time favorite poster said that hung in my classroom year after year.  Yet, learning from failure and making mistakes is seen as a new, #futureready, concept.  How is it then that I had this poster for so many years and I referred my students to it hundreds of times?  Does that mean I was #futureready before this was even a thing?  

I am currently a Media and Instructional Technology Specialist.  I began my career as an educator the same as everyone else.  I went to college to "study teaching", took a test, and got certified to teach.  I student and assistant taught with outstanding forward thinking teachers in New York.  I taught 3rd grade for a few years at a Yeshiva in Brooklyn straight out of college.  Then, I moved to Atlanta where I found the Epstein School, which has become my second home for the past 16 years.  Here I taught first 5th grade, then 2nd, then back to 5th for year until I transitioned into the Digital Learning Department and have been there ever since.   There I work primarily with students and teachers in our ECP and Kindergarten to integrate Media and Technology skills.  I am also a part of a team of people who are pushing the school forward with the use of a Blended Learning model.

My transition to this department was a classic case of "failing forward".  While I knew it was time to exit classroom teaching and follow a new path and renew my passion for teaching and learning, at the time, I was conflicted about the change and scared about what lay ahead of me in a new role. I get asked all the time by my old students: "Don't you miss being a teacher?" I always answer the same way, "I am still a teacher and always will be",   In fact, I often feel more like a teacher now than I ever was.  Today, I am able to facilitate learning in ways I couldn't never do when I was in the classroom, stifled by rigid objectives and time limits.  Now I am able to constantly explore, try new things, inspire children with books I read aloud, as well as help them find their own passion for reading, and encourage kids to question and create.  And yes, I have more room to fail, make mistakes, and ultimately learn from them.

So, when I think about where I am today, and I think of the #futureready ideas like learning from our mistakes, I am constantly reminded that these are not just thoughts of the future for me, they are actually thoughts from my past.  Join me on my adventures in this blog as I reflect on my own teaching and learning, as a teacher who is ready for the future BECAUSE of her past!