Christine Ho Younghusband

The Reflective Practitioner

Tonight’s #bcedchat, “The Reflective Practitioner” was inspired by the book The Reflective Practitioner – How Professionals Think in Action by Donald A. Schon.  I enjoyed co-moderating with @MsVictoriaOlson and reconnecting with the @bcedchat team, @brynmw and @jeremyinscho, on Google Hangout.  Being a part of these Twitter chats bring me joy… educationally and spiritually… so much joy that I’m inspired to write and reflect in my blog.  It’s half way through 2014… so what have I accomplished, what have I learned, and what’s next.  Hmm… this is a tough one.  On the one hand, I have accomplished a lot.  I got a job locally with the CRC Progress Plan, I was elected to the BCSTA Board of Directors, and I am returning a back to the Sunshine Coast Community Futures Board.  I feel deeply involved with my community, I exceeded my expectations, and I am learning.  These are all good things.  On the other hand, I fell short from getting a ‘life changing’ job, I am not building a momentum with my writing, and my health & fitness have been greatly neglected.  I can do everything, just not all at once.  This is not failure, but a segway into my next steps.  I am excited to take those steps and see how things will unfold.  What continues to go well in my pedagogical journey is my trusteeship, my business, and #bcedchat.  I have much gratitude.  So, what have I learned?  Do what you love and get better at it.

The Making

The making is in the breaking… Yup. I prevented myself from being broken.  It’s taken a year to mend myself back “together”… And wonder if I had made the right choice. In life, there are very few opportunities to be broken. Many of us spend much our time preventing ourselves from being broken. At the breaking point, one has two options. The first option is to be broken.  The breaking process could get ugly. The outcome is unknown and fear is provoked. The second option is to do whatever it takes to prevent the breaking from happening and proceed as usual. The outcome is known, comfortable, and familiar. Have you ever experienced this before? Which option would you choose? Which outcome do you fear most? As difficult as it may seem, the act of breaking is a gift. It takes great courage to allow and accept uncertainty. One must look beyond the trees and see the possibilities. Fear hold us back. Now, I must break myself open. This “breaking” will not be an easy task… but what I do know for sure is, “the making” will be worthwhile. 

Politics Before Friendship

Here’s a photo taken during the days when I stood on the picket line.  I believe this photo was taken in 2005.  It was challenging times then.  We took illegal strike action for two weeks to establish a 5 year contract, a wage increase, and a $3700 signing bonus.  Almost 10 years later, we are in the middle of another teacher strike, but I’m no longer a public school teacher.  I am a school trustee.  This go around is much worse than 2005.  As a first term school trustee, this is my second teacher labour dispute.  This time, it’s bad… really terrible… so awful that my friendships with former colleagues are questioned and contended.  One of my closest friends and former colleague recently unfollowed me on Twitter and unfriended me on Facebook.  Sigh.  In my pedagogical journey, I have always been invested in education, professional learning, and the success of students.  I am saddened by how things have turned out in the teacher labour dispute.  It has definitely become personal.

Changing Habits

Veggie Pie at The Strait Coffee in Wilson Creek

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein.  Yup.  I can attest to that.  Changing habits… it’s tougher than I thought.  For example, I stopped drinking coffee a couple of days ago… and for those who know me… I LOVE COFFEE.  Luckily, I have not experienced any headaches or signs of withdrawal except for small bouts of narcolepsy.  But when you’re not paying attention, you can easily slip back into your habitual routine.  This afternoon, my daughter and I went to McDonalds for a treat.  She gets a McFlurry and I get a frappe… a coffee frappe!!!  Whoops.  It didn’t even occur to me that I was drinking coffee until hours after the fact.  Weird.  Habits become a state of being such that you don’t even know any better. “When you know better, do better.” Maya Angelou.  My next shifts are eating better, regular fitness, and focus on my passion.  We’ll see how that goes.  What I’ve learned is to make change, it requires deliberate thought, consciousness, and action.

Where Do I Stand

As the teacher labour dispute escalates, my PLN on Twitter slowly diminishes.  Twitter has become a safe place to express anger, frustration, and disappointment.  It’s also a place for people to “sense make.” As I lurk through Twitter, some threads are getting pretty dark. There is very little joy steaming from my Twitter feed. Something that was professional has become personal. This is the disappointing part. Where do I stand? Yes, I was a full-time practicing teacher in public schools for 16 years. I’ve stood on the picket lines. I’ve been legistlated back to work. I’ve taught classes of 30 with 9 identified IEP’s. I get it. It’s a struggle. Teaching in public schools is more challenging than ever. Furthermore, there appears to be a lack of funding derived from declining enrolment and rising costs. The mantra is… Do more with less. Guess what? It’s the same mantra for school boards. Now, I am a school trustee. Boards of Education routinely face budget concerns and required to make tough decisions. With that said, boards are also advocating on an ongoing basis for more funding in BC Public Education. Yet on social media, there is a vibe out there asking, or dare I say criticizing, school trustees for not standing up in teacher labour dispute. I would disagree. I’m in it for the kids. Students are my number one priority, regardless of role. And if students are important to teachers and government, which I know it is, then get back to the table and bargain (media-free) until a deal is reached.  Students deserve this. And yes, I’ve been accused that this is a politically correct response, but it is truly how I feel… as an educator, trustee, graduate student, PAC volunteer, community member, tax payer, and mom. I don’t see sides in the teacher labour dispute. I see students. Let’s get back to the table. #bargaining #bctf #bcpsea

Elphinstone Graduation

Elphinstone Secondary Graduating Class of 2014

GRIT

I love the things I learn from my kid.  She keeps me humble.  With all the busyness around me, I made a conscience decision to take this weekend off to watch my daughter play in the local softball league tournament.  I do not understand much about the sport, except that I am learning more about it, with each game, from observing and asking questions.  My daughter’s team placed second overall in the standings during the season, but lost every game in the tournament, so far.  After today, there were some tough lessons to be learned.  Winning versus losing… Outcome based versus process based… Intrinsic reward versus extrinsic reward.  These are not easy lessons for an 11-year old girl to acquire.  Fear not… She is learning.  Placing last in the round standings today may have bruised her ego, a bit.  There was a little bit of anger, a little bit of frustration, and a little bit of disappointment.  This is normal.  Anyone would feel kind of down with 3 straight losses.  Your sense of hope and optimism are significantly depleted; and your willingness to ‘play your best’ quickly diminishes.  Knowing that the two other teams in her league were playing in the semi-finals, my daughter opted to stay late at the field to watch her peers play.  However, she got asked to play for a peewee team as a substitute.  She could have easily declined and sulked in her misery.  Instead, she eagerly accepted the offer and played the best game I’ve ever seen her play.  She rose to the occasion by playing with team members who are almost 3 years older than her.  She faced the fast pitch, made it to base 3 out of 4 times, and played 1st and 3rd base wholeheartedly.  She was part of the team.  This is what I call GRIT.  When things are down… when things get ugly… she was able to pick herself up and get back into the game.  Now that feels good.

Self-Employment

I love my kid… For the past few years, I’ve been making a go at self-employment.  I’ve learned about branding, product development, customer service, scheduling, and business finance.  And, I am still learning.  Self-employment  has many rewarding points and some not so rewarding.  What I do love, without intention, is my daughter’s desire and self-motivation to build her own business.  First, she loves Rainbow Loom.  Second, she loves people.  Put those two loves together and voila… “Rainbow Loom Creations.”  With the help of a friend, she is taking orders, making products, and invoicing customers accordingly.  One night she showed me this bag and started explaining her business plan.  So thoughtful… This is what I call “personalized learning.”  She has connected her passion with business and entrepreneurship.  Would love to see this kind of learning in our schools.  #projectbasedlearning #awesome

Tough Questions

Vancouver Airport – Power Outage – May 23, 2014

Navigating through the dark… it’s very tempting to go back to one’s comfort zone and maintain the status quo.  Personally, I’m not a big fan of going through life on automatic pilot.  I’ve done it before and I’m here again.  For me, I feel like I’m just trying to catch up to my “things to do list” with little or no time to reflect, digest, or synthesize.  This leads to some frustration, avoidance, and lack of inspiration.  To move forward, I need to answer some tough questions.  I am reminded by a blog entry I wrote last summer titled “Unfinished Conversations.”  I’ve deleted that blog entry months ago.  Apparently, I was not prepared to have these conversations.  Now, I realize that these conversations were not ones I needed to have with others, but they were ones I needed to have with myself.  By going through life avoiding… with little opportunity to critique, understand, or question… I think I will remain in the dark.  Am I scared?  Absolutely.  Am I prepared to do the same thing over and over again?  No, I am not.  #change

Former Students

BTW: This is a random picture selected from my huge collection compiled since 1994 of my past life as a secondary mathematics teacher.  Looking back, I believe that one of my strengths as a mathematics teacher was building relationships.  I much enjoyed connecting with students, knowing what motivated them, and understanding their understanding of mathematics.  Without trust, it would have been challenging to woo students into learning… or maybe even liking… mathematics.  Leaving the teaching practice was not easy.  Thank goodness for social media… and living in the same community… I have the great fortune of connecting and re-connecting with many of my former students.  Instead of calling me “Ms. Ho” or “Mrs. Younghusband”… they call me “Christine.”  That’s a nice shift.  Furthermore, I get to learn about their journey into adulthood… and somehow, I was a part of that.  I’m so proud of my students.  Thank you for sharing your stories.  #Chatelech