Preparing For the Unknown
On the one hand, this is a wonderful metaphor. On the other hand, it’s exactly what’s happening. I am so stoked to be presenting at the Central Okanagan Teachers’ Association (COTA) Summer Institute for 3-full days on BC’s New Curriculum in Mathematics. What an incredible opportunity and I am deeply honoured. I am also second billing to SD38/UBC PhD Candidate Shelley Moore. She is incredible and I feel that she is only at the beginning of her edu-awesomeness. I am so “jelly” of those who get to see her speak. I won’t be able to see her speak as we are teaching the same 3-full days. That said, I am super excited for the educators in SD23 and their professional learning experience. There is an awesome slate of speakers/educators coming to COTA on August 30th, 31st, and September 1st.
I am totally preparing for the unknown. I took for granted the gift I had as a practicing secondary mathematics teacher and the relationships I developed with my students. You get to know about their strengths and weaknesses in mathematics, you learn about their interests and dislikes, and you build an unwavering connection with them so that we can engage in learning. When teaching workshops for teachers, there is little or no time to build a relationship in a deep and meaningful way. You do connect with some of them, but you have no idea who your audience is. It is challenging to prepare for an audience without knowing their prior knowledge or experience.
I was asked to present three workshops on the new curriculum with a focus on math:
- Math Embedded – Aboriginal Education and Mathematics (August 30th)
- Transforming Pedagogy with BC’s New Curriculum (August 31st)
- Math 10-12 and BC’s New Curriculum (September 1st)
The best I can do is to organize my thoughts and knowledge in the best way I can with hopes of satisfying the professional learning needs of this unknown audience. I suspect that they are mathematics teachers or generalists who teach mathematics, but I don’t know their years of experience, pedagogical alignment with the new curriculum, or familiarity with the new curriculum. It’s a challenge and I love it. As uncertain it is, the more engaging it becomes. I love honing my practice. Creating three workshops is like completing three 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles. Two are complete and one more to go. Even with an early prep, I will likely make last minute changes for each day and wield the workshop on-the-fly to meet the demands of the unknown audience. I will learn about my audience. Can you say fun? It’s super fun!!!
I am so excited to be teaching again. It’s like coming home. I look back and I believe that everything was meant to happen as it should. I wouldn’t be here today without having doing what I have done. Sometimes I think about WHAT IF… What if I stayed in the classroom? What would my career be like? I could do that, but I don’t. Ultimately, I would not have been working on the curriculum had stayed in the classroom. As weird as that sounds, serendipity took control of my pedagogical journey. I am not sure if I would have met the people I have met, have the opportunities that I had, or learn what I am learning had I not taken this meandering path to see my light.
Watch out COTA!!! Here I come!!! #happylearning #bccurric #mathisfun