Staying Indoors

January 16, 2024 – Shifting Gears and Finding Momentum

If you notice carefully, the snow is accumulating rapidly on my patio’s edge. This photo was taken this morning and there is more snow now. It snowed all day and I stayed home all day, working from home. I feel like I have finally overcame the obstacles known as the CCV (the Canadian Common CV), which was a good learning experience. There were a few administrative bits to handle this afternoon and now I am transitioning into writing. So, why not blog? I am grateful in many ways to have a job that is highly dependent on my computer. I’ll be back on campus tomorrow.

This image is a common photo I post daily on my Twitter/X account to share “today’s #patiopic” that is complemented with a thought of the day or pleasant commentary of what is. The weather started warming up a bit to -8 degrees Celsius, but will be cooling down again to temperatures close to -19 degrees. At least it’s not -40 degrees like it was last week with the windchill factor. That said, I do appreciate the blue sky and sunny days when its super cold out. As you can see, it was a cloudy and snowy day today. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect. Hence, I’m inspired to blog.

I am brought to the idea of what’s important to me. Here we go again… not to belabour the issue, but really it’s more about figuring out the nuances of what’s important to me. I am noticing. I am wondering. I am deliberating what action to take. Ultimately, I need to trust my instincts and right now the arrows are pointing towards my doctoral research and investigating mathematics education, out-of-field teaching, and teacher professional development. My heart and spirit are alive in mathematics and assessment, so I need to explore that further as part of my research program.

In the meantime, I will direct my attention to teacher agency, teacher leadership, and climate change education. I am working with a research group and we had the opportunity to learn more about the writing process,  teacher leadership, and knowledge dissemination. Admittedly, there has been a tonne on my plate and I advocated to continue with this chapter writing. Now, I need to follow through on it. In hindsight, I should have advocated for myself and put my work first. I am learning, no doubt. And, I have no regrets. Things happen exactly how they should happen.

Onwards and upwards.