As an educator, I seek continual improvement and constant iteration. It is my goal to be a perpetual learner and continue to evolve on a personal as well as professional level. As Walt Disney said “Disneyland will never be complete, it will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” I believe that innovation is a mindset, not a destination.
And yet, the past couple of months I have had trouble feeling innovative. This is not to say that I am accomplishing little. On the contrary, my husband Adam Juarez and I have nearly completed the final first draft of our upcoming book regarding organic edtech coaching, the educators and students I serve are making progress in owning their learning, and I have read a few books on various topics to continue my own development in many areas of my life.
As educators, as humans, while we may be moving forward on our journey, it may feel as though we are stagnant. There are also times when we feel we have taken a few steps back, or that our progress has halted. As I consider this, I recall an image George Couros often shares regarding success. The journey is complex. And it is personal. Each of us has a unique path. Life has thrown me challenges I had never anticipated, both personally and professionally. The same is likely true for you. It is the power to reflect back that can help us to see how far we have come.
A few weeks ago, I was a bit frustrated with the most recent slidedecks I had created for professional learning sessions. I began to feel that they were simply not that great. While it is important that we view our work with a critical eye, it is vital that we not stay locked in a negative bias. I had begun to go down a rabbit hole of self-criticism that was not productive. Shortly afterward, I began cleaning out and organizing my Google Drive. I found lesson plans I had created nine years ago, units of study I had built five years ago, and the first professional learning session slidedecks I had ever made. And that is when I realized how far I have come. It was an incredible experience. These artifacts I had created years prior were the best I knew how to do at the time, they took me a great deal of planning and iterating. And yet, I saw how I would rework each of them if I were to do it again, more efficiently with more effective results. This process of improvement took years, it did not feel like I was on a speedway to success. But looking back, I am inspired to continue moving forward. I am celebrating progress from the past, and allowing myself grace. I don’t have to feel innovative to be innovative. Innovation is a mindset. And it is the presence of this mindset during the journey that matters.