Welcome to my blog. I share stories of educators from around the world. Hope you enjoy the jrney!
All tagged contributing author
Heidi’s enthusiasm is contagious, and I could tell right away that she brings something special to education. Learning a language can often be a laborious experience leaving a wake of frustration for the learner (at least it has in my own experiences with language learning), but not in Heidi's French class. Here’s her story about how she brings the world to her classroom each day.
I found Jennifer on Twitter, a happy accident, as much of my activity using this technology seems to go. I sent her a message out of the blue inviting her to write a post, and within a day she sent me this story. Talk about motivation! I’m so happy to have connected serendipitously with her, and I’m excited about the possibilities of writing collaborations in the future! Here’s her story…
I had the pleasure of connecting with Ava through my work with Participate. I was helping to pilot a new professional development program, and Ava was one of the brave teachers who took a risk and learned alongside her students as they looked for ways to make their school lunch healthier through multiple student-driven avenues. I was immediately impressed with her motivation and excitement toward teaching and learning and her openness to feedback. Here's what Ava believes about education and what she's been up to since I last worked with her.
If you haven’t read part 1 of Jeff Zanger’s story, please read it first. In his previous post, Jeff Zanger shared a very personal story about his life and the death of his son Easton. In this post, Jeff continues his personal JRNEY that takes him all over the world to become the global educator he is today.
I met Jeff at ISTE18. He sat next to me in a meeting about global collaboration. What he didn’t realize at the time was that he gave me a very nice compliment about a curriculum I had developed while working for a global ed. company the year before. I had a chance to chat a bit with Jeff during the conference and could tell right away that he was a passionate global educator. What I didn’t realize was the incredible story he had to tell. There’s so much we can learn from this story, so I decided to split it into two posts without having to cut anything. I hope you are inspired as much as I have been. Here’s part 1 of Jeff’s story.
Nam is a regular contributor to the JRNEY blog, and I admire him a great deal. In fact, I hope to be able to visit him in Vietnam in the very near future. In this blog, he discusses an important topic, within in context of Vietnam, that increasingly affects every educator around the world: migration. When homes are no longer safe or opportunities arise or diminish, people move. People have always moved, and they will always continue to do so. How education responds depends on you.
I met Greg in June at the end of a scavenger hunt as part of an ISTE Global Collaboration PLN event. And I'm so glad I did. Right away I could tell that Greg was one of the good guys working hard to find ways to make the lives of kids and teachers better. And his way was through analytics. Now this is not my normal cup of tea, but when I heard him explain what he was doing, I felt strongly about having him share his story here.
I had the pleasure of spending some time with Gina at the ISTE conference in Chicago this past June and seeing the result of her JRNEY in action. While my path to teaching was direct, my path out of the classroom has been meandering, to say the least, and I believe that these crooked, twisting roads lead us to our best selves both inside and outside the classroom. Gina’s story is a perfect example of how the process is the point.
Empathy is an important word in education, but what if it's not your strong suit? Fellow ASCD Emerging Leader, PJ Caposey, writes about his empathy jrney. I'm really proud of PJ's honesty in this post. It's so easy for empathy to fall to the wayside when our responsibilities increase and patience wanes. But this is a great reminder for all of us to take a step back and put ourselves in someone else's shoes.
This is exactly the kind of story I love to share on this blog, and it's perfect for the theme of the month, what's best for kids. Most teachers can relate to Tammy's story of Carlos and how one small adjustment makes all the difference in the life of a student. But what's truly amazing is that Tammy didn't stop there, she continues to reach children around the world on a grand scale, and JRNEY is thrilled to be able to share her story this week.
This month, I wanted to focus on stories about what's best for kids. Last week's story focused on building relationships and being a support system and advocate. This week, we go global with teaching the Sustainable Development Goals. Ryan found me and sent his story immediately, and I can understand why. He's doing really incredible things with his students. The true beauty of it is that not only is he preparing them for life beyond his classroom, but he is able to create an interdisciplinary learning environment steeped in meaning and authenticity. Here's Ryan Churchward's story...
All educators come to teaching for different reasons. Maybe it's because of an inspirational teacher or to have a lasting impact on the world. Perhaps the choice stems from turning something negative into something positive. The stories I share each week are meant to showcase pieces of these educational journeys. This week, I take you on a full journey from beginning to now. It's a real treat to see each step unfold into the story of someone who I admire very much and the perfect story to share at the start of Teacher Appreciation Week. Here's Jennifer's story...
