Always be Curious

How eager are you to "take on learning for the long term?" I must admit sometimes I'm too exhausted to try something new. I want to rely on muscle memory and just doing the thing I know well, but sometimes it's really energizing to learn something new. As a 50-something educator, here are some things that I've learned recently:

• I learned to draw on a photo on my phone.
• I learned what a tagua nut is like and where it is found.
• I learned who Marianne Moore was and what recent accomplishments of Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson are.
• I have been reminded of how hard it is to apologize, of how discouraging it is to be rejected, of how exhausting it is to be corrected.

I've thoroughly enjoyed asking questions of my co-workers, my neighbors, a new-found relative, my children, my collaborators in a project. The biggest thing I've been reminded about by a teammate is to "keep swimming." Maybe that's the message that you need … keep swimming. And if you are an out-of-school time director or staff member, you may find this course helpful as you pursue professional goals around lifelong learning and continuous quality improvement. The course provides several tools to reflect on what's happening in a specific OST space using this tool.

And if you would appreciate taking a moment to think more deeply about your OST job and the things you love and the things you'd like to work on, this Job CRAFTing handout might come in handy. And if you'd like to encourage the curious nature in the children in your program, check out these "Wonder-full" ideas.