October 27, 2023 – Finding My Direction

Finally… a slow day. I need one to ground myself, rest, and move at my pace. It feels great. As a consequence, I thought that this would be a perfect time to make a blog post. Often when I write, I have to be in the right place, in mind, body, and spirit. I am in the right place, so here I am. For the last 2-3 weeks, I’ve been in a work-life hustle and this way of being is only enhanced by not having a car during practicum. I am not complaining, but I am more aware of my gratitude and love for people. I would like to share some of my gratitude before I write about my curiosities.

First, I am so grateful for my friend who lent me her car for a week. Honestly, it’s been a brilliant 7-days having her car. She was my last resort. There were no cars to rent, a taxi would have been reasonable, and there is no bus heading out to this practicum placement. I made a cold call before throwing in the white towel and my friend made it possible for me. I went food shopping and recycled, drove my kid to school and work, and used her vehicle to do my job for practicum. AMAZING!! I did not realize how much I do with my car, but I am also grateful for my friend.

Second, I just came from an in-person meeting this morning with a colleague and mentor. I am so grateful for this person to carve out the time for me. How we first met was serendipitous and since then this relationship has only been supportive, kind, and respectful. I feel so reassured by this person’s willingness to listen, give honest feedback, and encouragement to grow and develop. I even slept for 11-hours last night to catch up on my sleep but also to have a meaningful meeting. I wanted to be present and cognitively aware of our conversation. It went great!!

Finally, my students in all of my classes are awesome. They are very forgiving, but also engaging, wonderful, and thought provoking. What more can I ask for? I just love being with those in my undergraduate and graduate classes. Being with them makes me realize that I am doing what I am meant to do, but also where I would like to be. That said, I am very aware of my place in the institution and I have to be very mindful of my next steps. In the meantime, I will enjoy what I am doing. My mind is more open and I am grateful to have a job where I am able to learn more.

I am not lost on the irony or coincidence of my sense of direction, in life, in Italy, and in general… LOL. Although I started the blog post with much gratitude to my friend, colleague, and students, I am brought back to a some learning that is lingering for me as self-assessment and professional learning. I am so struck by the idea of the importance of spatial reasoning for early learners. My twin brother and I took most of our elementary classes separately during K-7 and part of 8-12. He LOVES maps and has an excellence sense of direction and I have NOTHING.

If my friends could keep me on a leash in Italy, the might have strongly considered it. I would get easily lost and disoriented. I embraced my lack of sense of direction as a traveller and I am very grateful for technology and iMaps, I am coming to the realization this phenomena is much more than just not being able to navigate well. I just looked at spatial reasoning test online. I could not do it (at least, not in my head). Finally, reading be an issue and who knows what else, it makes me wonder. How much does my spatial reasoning development impacts my way of being?

I am convinced about the importance of spatial reasoning for reading and other cognitive skills and sense of space and place. I am curious if this reasoning is underdeveloped for me and how I can work on it. During the BCAMT conference, it seemed like it is something that one can develop and I am truly inspired to learn more about in preparation for the numeracy course I’m teaching next term. I am also reminded to complete an ethics application on a self-study. I’m inspired. There is always the work-hustle, but I’m reminded that part of this journey is for me too.