Summer to Fall

Last week I finally  resolved to change my wardrobe over from summer to fall. It is truly the biggest challenge for me every year. I love all of my tank tops, skirts, flowy dresses and flip flops.  This is my favorite time of year.  And then October comes.  I start pulling out the bins of sweaters and pants and socks.  The uncomfortable clothes. It is not a fun activity for me, changing summer to fall.  I stall. I procrastinate. I may even sulk a little bit. I dread it. I’ve been working on it for three weeks now and maybe I will finish this weekend.  Maybe. I don’t want to do it.  My inner two year old self wants to throw a fit and demand that summer not be over.  But my inner mature adult self knows that if I don’t get it done I will be freezing cold and miserable.  This change is inevitable. And even though this happens every year, I still struggle with it. Every. Time.

This year, as I was digging in a bin for socks because I thought my toes might just fall off for how cold they were, I realized that this may be how teachers feel about change in their teaching: bringing in technology to do new things, designing flexible learning space that, flipping their classroom, project based learning. These New things make them feel uncomfortable.  They stall.  They procrastinate. They may even sulk a little bit. They dread it.  They say they don’t know how or why or they have no time.  But this change is inevitable.  Technology is ubiquitous. To our students the devices are always there. Always available to play a game or watch their favorite youtuber. These kids want to be youtubers when they grow up. It's a thing! And we are teaching them the way we were taught because it's what we do. But that's not ok. The weather is changing. The change is inevitable and we need to get moving.