This post is week 8 of 8 in the 8 Weeks of Summer Blog Challenge for educators.

Moving Forward

What will you keep from the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge moving forward?

Not a Big Hairy Audacious Goal; as I recall, I don’t have one. Not a self-appointed change agent who will save the world despite all obstacles; as I recall, I hung up my superman’s cape in a museum. Not the respite from blogging and protesting the existential threat to public education in Florida; as I recall, that has been going on all summer and I must return to the fight (I already have.)

Grumpy Old Teacher will remain grumpy to maintain a spirit of parody and humor in the face of dark times. He will continue the continuous learning journey that never really ends as the needs of children are always changing from one year to the next. He adapt, grow, and change so that if he was facing the same prompts next summer, the responses would not be the same.

As teachers head back to their work, GOT will take his commitment to excellence in learning, his dedication to the success of children, his unending journey of learning how to teach better, his collaboration with colleagues in mutual listening to one another and learning from one another, and his spirit of a servant’s heart into his classroom once again.

GOT will maintain his boundaries. He teaches students; he does not have babies. He fulfills his contract responsibilities; he is not on 24/7. He gets results when the students embrace their learning; for those who will not, he refuses to feel guilty. Children are not widgets to be programmed. As human beings, they have something to say about who and what they will become. That is why teaching will never be reduced to a script or a computer program. It takes a human.

Thanks for the blogging challenge, Hot Lunch Tray. GOT wishes you success on your own journey this year as you continue your work to help others implement educational technologies in the classroom.