Staying on My Toes

I tried to exercise my brain and body last night as I listened in on the first session of The Innovator’s Mindset MOOC (#IMMOOC) while working out on the treadmill.   My main takeaway was that I have to stay on my toes.  As soon as I start to feel as though I might finally “get” this teaching gig (after 14 years), someone like John Spencer comes and blows me out of the water.  The one thing I should try is design thinking?  Ugh, I don’t think I know anything about it!  Where do I start?  But that’s the nature of curiosity and innovation – someone or something planting the seed, and me taking off with it.  Maybe not in the direction they anticipated, but in the direction I need to go to meet the needs of my students and myself.

Another thing I’ve been thinking about is transformational change.  That’s the buzzword in my province for what our government wants to do in the health, education, and social service sectors.  Most people cynically think it just means taking money and resources out of the system to help eliminate our ballooning deficit.  I want to keep George Couros’ quote in mind as we go through this difficult process – “Change is the opportunity to do something amazing!”  As we head into uncertain times, when we feel that we are having the rug pulled out from under us and are potentially losing co-workers to the process, that it’s going to be increasingly important to look for opportunities in the change.  We owe the positive attitude to ourselves and our students.

* Originally written on February 28, but not published until March 12.

2 thoughts on “Staying on My Toes

  1. I think that staying on one’s toes becomes easier when you are a life long learner – it becomes your way of life to just always be checking out that next thing. And yes, try design thinking – it is awesome – in structure, not so terribly different from any other problem solving technique, but the focus on empathy, and how you brainstorm are world’s away from any traditional technique and, imho, what gives DT so much power! I am loving this #IMMOOC journey we are on!

    • Hi Kathy – I agree fully, it’s a great journey that we’re on! I checked out your blog – great job on the image! You’ve inspired me to take it on this weekend when I have some time to play around.

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