In A Damn Good Mood Cause I Said No

Posted on March 17, 2009
Filed under Digital Portfolio and tagged dpf, reflection, teaching

Ah, well, finally this morning I started taking a bit more control on what has turned out to be a crazy term! On the way to school I actually got a couple of audio blog posts done, and so now I just want to write on my blog all day! There really is nothing like a good bit of reflection to get me grounded and keep me a bit more realistic. One of my biggest faults I think is that I set ridiculously high standards for myself and what I am going to get done, and then of course there is the disappointment when those standards are not reached. I find that just sitting and reflecting really helps me to get a grip on what is more realistic and it’s also time to realise that while not all of my lessons are perfect, I am doing a pretty good job most of the time.

So, I’m in a damn good mood because today I feel as though I have a grip on things! Woo hoo! I’ve still got a lot of work to do, but just being able to write and talk about the frustrations I’m having has made me feel so much better. I have done something this year that I have never been good at before….saying NO! OMG. A rather amazing feeling. I have knocked back two offers for paying gigs on IWBs, have not signed up to present at any conferences yet (way too many of them last year! Great fun to present, but so much time needed to prepare…), and have removed myself from a few networks to which I was contributing nothing anyway. Oh, the honesty, but the relief when I sit back and think that I don’t have to worry about doing this or that. It is just enough to have the workload I have (which with 4 new subjects, 3 of which are VCE) and get through that. It is OK to be human and not be part of every single thing that is going on – as nice as that would be. I just know that I have to do the best by my students and if that means I don’t have time to:

present at conferences
write on my blog very often
try out crazy amounts of new stuff

then so be it. I do have to make time for reflection, cause that seems to be the thing that is going to take me forward at the moment. So, again, I’m in a damn good and relaxed mood cause I am reflecting, being realistic and saying no.

How are you feeling?

Image is reflections (A)

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5 Responses to “In A Damn Good Mood Cause I Said No”

Seth Dickens on March 17th, 2009 7:13 pm

boo.. first comment was kicked out by the anti-spam

Annnnyway.. what I wanted to say was…

“Bravo Jess!”

Hear hear! There are too few of us manically trying to encourage colleagues to do stuff that they seem to take as a zealous call on our part for them to have to prepare doubly time consuming lesson plans.

I recently finished a mega-time-consuming contract, and you know what, my lessons today were GREAT thanks to the effort I was able to put into them. Sometimes we need to reflect on the important things in life.

Take care and all the best,

Seth.

p.s. Thanks for the Flip Video advice. I love it!!
Louise Maine on March 17th, 2009 7:16 pm

Thank you for writing this. My thoughts have fallen along the same lines of late and wanting to drop out of signing up for anything new. I am pretty much tired. There are some things that have not gone well – managing collaboration for one which actually seems like an oxymoron. I need time to reflect and using technology for study skills, inquiry, and making learning more engaging. I am hitting a point where I can’t do it all. Conference attendees want to see more teachers present, but there is a reason why they don’t…

…thank you again. Reflection on teaching practice is more important than many of the endeavors that can be pursued.
Brendan O'Brien on March 17th, 2009 8:04 pm

Hi Jess …

I’m running an online (ELLUMINATE) Conference in April … Theme: eLearning & innovation

obrien.brendan.p@edumail.vic.gov.au

wanna present?

hehe

Brendan
Miss W. on March 18th, 2009 1:03 am

Deja vu?? Think we spoke about saying NO last year sometime. Glad you finally found the worth in doing just that. Prioritise and don’t take on everything.

I’m doing something I’ve never done before – presentation on ‘Safely blogging in the big wide world” at the ALEA conference in Hobart in July. Now I am having to prepare for something new and wondering how it will go over to English and Literacy teachers who will be attending.
Heymilly on May 19th, 2009 10:55 pm

I am very impressed Jess! This is the perfect time for you to be practicing that important word – NO! Am feeling very much like you but have a long way to go – you are def leading by example for me here. I have found leaving some of the other stuff and reflecting more is also helping me get to where I want to be. Thanks for this post! Amanda