October 27, 2024 – Allow and Accept

First, I am accepting that I missed out on writing last week’s weekly blog and I am allowing myself to pick up where I left off and write this week’s blog post without worrying about having to make up a blog post because I had committed to a weekly blog. It’s ok to skip a week (or two). I missed a couple during the summer and now I have missed another one. It’s all good. Last weekend I was recovering from a very intensive week supporting a colleague with a grant application and this week I went out of town to attend and co-present at a conference. Life is getting full with many things to do for my work and personal life, and I am very grateful. I can only do what I can do. Onwards and upwards.

Second, I don’t think this is going to be a very long blog post. As much as I think it might be, it’s already tomorrow (aka., 1am) and I have an early start tomorrow. I am super excited about what I am doing and I feel very lucky to do the work that I do. I have so much to catch up on as well, but I think that’s the nature of my work, but also I have chosen to take “Saturdays off” to “be a person” on that day. I have now mastered my “be a person day” such that I take the day off guilt free. I cannot believe how much of a difference it makes to my sense of being and well-being. I feel HUMAN when I take Saturdays off. It’s now lending itself to Friday nights and most of Sundays. I’m ok with that. Doing the laundry is good.

Third, the consequence of “being a person,” however, are very full work weeks and days. My days get very long and I’m in front of a computer for hours. Sleep becomes essential and I need to insert some outdoor time or daily exercise to balance these days. This “educator wellbeing” will be a scaffolded process. I just came back from Kelowna co-presenting with three teacher candidates at the “Research Forum on Educator Wellness” about student/teacher wellness and land-based pedagogies. There is something about being on the land. The presentation went well and I enjoy working with this crew on this lesson study.

The inquiry is ongoing and we hope to be writing about our experiences. The project started with four teacher candidates presenting at WestCAST 2024. Now, three teacher candidates are continuing with the work during practicum. I was coaching and mentoring this crew from the beginning and joined them in co-presenting at the research forum. We’ve applied for another national conference in Toronto and hope to write a chapter or article about this action research. I am convinced about our message of teaching curriculum outside and that student wellness equates to teacher wellness. This work also aligns to BC’s Curriculum, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Standard 9, and the TRC.

What I am learning in on of the classes I’m teaching is, the obstacles are the opportunities. I could not agree more. It’s like when learning happens when we make mistakes. The light shines through the cracks. I love that metaphor or imagery. It reminds me of the Japanese term, “komorebi,” that is, sunshine filtering through the trees. The word describes visible light, but its often known for its feeling. Feelings of hope, wonder, and curiosity come to mind when I think about what learning, leading, and living is all about. I said many times during our Kelowna trip to the teacher candidates, whatever is meant to happen will happen. Keep moving forward, but you can’t control others or the details.

I am grateful for my friend who drove me to and from Kelowna to Prince George and for the ongoing commitment, connection, and collaboration with the teacher candidates. This project has taught me a lot and I appreciate how we are able to redesign our presentation to suit the theme of each conference. It amazes me and I am reminded that at teachers, we are learners and leaders. We need to take the time to nourish those qualities in ourselves. It’s not meant to be perfect or scripted, but rather an opportunity to reflect and reimagine to get better at what we do. There is no “best practice” because it’s always changing. So, I think that if we are better at change, the better we can be as learners and teachers.