I use the word “Continuous” in the most literal sense.
As a proud member of a wonderful PLN I am exposed to fascinating blog posts on a regular, very frequent basis. Despite these posts being about an incredibly diverse range of topics, they all have one element in common.
Every single post is a call for me to reflect.
A call to reflect on what I’m doing, what I did and what I would like to be doing. To reflect on what the students did and what that tells me about where I stand with them. Even to reflect on how one adapts our teaching to our physical space (Thanks to Tyson Seburnt).
I come home from school every day and turn on the computer to see what my PLN is up to. Even with resolutions that I really do stick to regarding seriously limiting the number of recommended posts I read a week, all it takes is one post and I’m off to “reflect -o-land”. I mean, just listen to a sentence from this week’s trigger post, by Kevin Stein:
Stein has certainly struck a chord with me regarding rushing in too quickly to resolve things in class. A “contol issue”, I would say.
Reflection takes time, time that isn’t built into my daily life. Many teachers I work with work many hours, juggle work and family. Just like I do. Some even study something. Once upon a time I used to have proffesional development, like they do, only over the holidays. Now the time I need to think about what I am exposed to causes me to go to the cupboard to get more detergent and not to remember why I went there. To let the laundry pile up while I’m corresponding with the author of the blog. To feel even more impatient with teachers talking about a stupid reality TV show when we could be discussing this interesting topic.
Although some say time is elastic, I have not found it to be so. It is always a trade off. On different days the trade off is different, that is all. Today the need to reflect about what I’m feeling has caused me to sit and write this blog post, instead of taking a power walk. Which is the worst sin of all.
I seeked out this PLN and these posts becuase they answered a need I have. I do not have anywhere else to discuss these issues. In my PLN. being a nerd for wanting to do so is not considered a negative thing. I love that.
But everything comes with a price.