A few weeks ago, I was hosting/moderating Florida Educator Chat (#FLedChat), and Meredith posted a tweet about #BookCampPD, sharing the website and a little information about what would be happening. I took a screenshot of the post to remind myself to look into it a little deeper, and honestly forgot about it. I’m really glad Meredith stayed with it, because a week or so later she posted about it again. This time I immediately went to the website and saw that things were beginning. I bought the book, “The Path to Serendipity: Discover the Gifts Along Life’s Journey,” by Allyson Apsey and began to read.
I was immediately struck by the author’s voice in this book. Apsey wrote this book from the heart, sharing her journey with an honesty that makes it accessible to both those veteran and new-to-the-profession teachers, but also to people who have vocations other than teaching. I was touched by what she shared. I cried when she wrote of her mother’s passing, and I laughed at the idea of having a dance party at lunch. I had just this year begun to open the Media Center at my school to kids to come in and use technology, explore with robots, and build with LEGOs and other building toys. This made me laugh because many of my babies—and yes, they are all my babies—used this time to look up videos and to practice their dance moves. I had never done this before, and even though sometimes it wore me out before school even began, I did it because my babies deserve it.
Now, I have made the commitment to continue through the remainder of #BookCampPD. I have bought the books and my goal is to read them and to participate as much as I am able in the chats, daily questions, and with #booksnaps. This will help me to continue to grow as an educator, after all, if I honestly believe that I should never stop learning as an educator and as a human being, I should walk the walk. And I should share. If it helps even one fellow educator to be inspired to keep learning and growing in the profession, then it will be worth it. Thanks for reading, and if you would like, you can reach me on Twitter @kmichellehowell. Let’s keep the conversation going.
from Meredith Johnson – Tremendous thanks to Michelle for sharing her thoughts about #BookCampPD’s summer, professional learning – FAR – Friends and Reading. Lead learners like her enrich all of us!
BookCampPD 