Where are you headed with regard to your professional learning, efforts, and collaboration?
How are you navigating the multiple professional opportunities available today?
As you begin to reach out and connect with educators throughout the world, you will find that multiple opportunities to develop your craft and engage in innovative projects will come your way. And as a couple trusted colleagues noted yesterday, you don't have to say yes to all of them.
But you do have to say yes to some since that's what keeps you fresh and invigorated for your students and the profession. Hence, what will you say yes to?
As you consider options, you have to consider the following points:
- Does the compensation equal your efforts?
- Will someone else own or profit from your professional experience, artistry, and creation?
- Are you taking something of value away from the project--value to you as an educator and/or value to your students and learning community?
- Will the collaboration benefit you by challenging you to take risks and grow?
- Is this an ethical, promising contribution to the educational field?
As I meet educator after educator this week at the MTA Conference, it is clear that many are asking themselves questions about their next steps in education--they see promise and potential for the work they can do in education.
Summer is a good time to ponder these questions, a time before the business of the typical school year begins.
