On being a risk-taker.....

As a PYP teacher, the need to encourage growth through taking risks is always in the forefront of my mind. We constantly talk with our students about what being a risk-taker looks and feels like and the personal development and benefits we can experience when are brave and push ourselves out of our comfort zone.

From http://www.startofhappiness.com/ 

I've been blogging with my class for a while now and while I have toyed with the idea of starting a professional blog on numerous occasions, I've never had the courage to take this step. I've been terrified to put myself out there for critique by peers who I admire and look up to. I'm incredibly anxious about opening myself up to scrutiny by educators whose opinions I value and whose expertise I am inspired by.  I am not sure why I feel this way as I am a prolific reader of educational blogs and have always had a deep admiration for those who blog about their experiences as educators, teachers who care deeply enough about the difference they are making for their students to seek feedback from other teachers or to share their expertise. I have found their musings to be so helpful. So I'm not sure why putting my thoughts and reflections out there is so terrifying.

Perhaps it is because I don't consider myself to have all the answers; sometimes I don't consider myself to have ANY of the answers! But I certainly have a lot of questions, questions that I'd love to mull over with other educators.

I was fortunate enough to attend the GAFE Summit, South in April. Kimberley Hall talked about Virtuous Circles and I realised that I while I was doing three of the steps, I was definitely not creating content.

A Virtuous Circle shared by Kimberley Hall at the Gafe Summit. 

Claire Amos's and Steve Mouldey's #hackyrclass project was the final push I needed to start documenting my challenges and celebrations as a teacher.

So today I am being a risk-taker. I'm putting myself out there, dipping my toes into the blogosphere so to speak.  Wish me luck!