Knowing Your Why

"Knowing your why is essential when attending an educational conference.  What is your "why" for this year's conference?  What are you hoping to learn?"

This was one of the questions that dropped in the #isteten chat earlier this week.  #Isteten is not a chat that I normally participate in, but I jumped in at the invitation of a friend.  I quickly dropped in my response, which was "To help my #4OCFpln family share the message about taking charge of your own PD! Secondary, to connect face to face with my #PLN." 

To be honest, my initial 'why' was just to be connecting face to face with a group of educators that has impacted me greatly in the last year and a half.  I am not a technology teacher.  Some people might question why I would even want to go to a technology conference like ISTE.  I believe I can learn something from any conference I attend, but I would not be attending ISTE if it wasn't for my #4OCFpln. 

We had discussed the possibility of submitting a proposal for a session at ISTE.  When the deadline for proposals came around, one of us stepped up and submitted a proposal for a panel presentation on Taking Charge of your own PD.  (Thank you @leachteach4 for doing that for us!)  All of us were thrilled when we heard that our proposal had been accepted!  I knew at that moment, I wanted to be there!  With no funding from my school, I paid for my conference fee, housing, and travel expenses, because this was important to me.

And then this question of "why" comes up in this #isteten chat.  I have become very familiar with the question "What is your 'why'?" because it comes up in our #4OCFpln chats every week!  (Thank you for bringing us back to our "why" @emercedlearning !)  It has also come up in a book study I am participating in with #2menandabook, Divergent EDU by Mandy Froehlich.  She says that teachers need a why and then references a video on YouTube, Know Your Why by Michael Jr. (2017).  If you have not seen this video, take a few minutes to view it.  I promise you it will be worth it!  My favorite quote from this video, which Mandy uses in her book is as follows:
"When you know your why your what has more impact because you're walking in and toward your purpose."

I truly want "To help my #4OCFpln family share the message about taking charge of your own PD!".  But looking back at the original question, I did not answer the last part, "What are you hoping to learn?"  I am hoping to learn how I can more effectively implement the use of tools with which I am already familiar.  If I learn about new tools while I'm there, that will be a bonus!

Do you know your 'why'?

Keep Sharing Your Passions!

Stumbling and sliding down the riverbank, I followed a small crowd of people all intent on keeping up with the man dressed in khakis, boots, and a floppy hat.  His purpose was singular, to share his passion for hunting arrowheads and other artifacts.

The rubber boots that I had tucked my jeans into made my steps awkward.  I struggled to catch up with the leader of the group as he began to disappear around a bend, his excitement increasing the pace of every step.  I managed somehow to keep my eyes both on the water in front of me and the general direction of the group as they crossed the riverbed.  The once clear water, made muddy by the foot traffic, hid rocks, ledges, and holes that I anxiously watched for wanting to avoid an unceremonious dunking in the cool water.  The fear of missing out hastened my steps and resulted in a rushing cool sensation as I stepped off a ledge into water deeper than my boots.  With heavier steps, I continued moving upstream hoping that we would soon arrive 'there'.

Our guide settled on an area roughly 100 yards upstream that was made shallow from the deposits of gravel, rock, and other debris.  As I got closer I could hear him talking to whomever would listen of the history of this river, the artifacts that had been found here, and what we could expect to find today.  He patiently answered questions as he walked slowly, head down, scanning the ground in front of him.  It wasn't long before he bent down and picked up a rock that turned out to be an arrowhead with the tip broken off.  He explained that he had seen the blade edge  sticking up out of the rocks which is how they often land.  His decades of arrowhead hunting experience had trained his eyes to notice things that other people would overlook, and often do!  He handed the find to a child and continued walking, talking, and looking.

Choosing an area within earshot, I began to look carefully at the ground before me.  Lots of gravel peppered with shale, river rocks, sticks, with the occasional glass, bones, and other debris.  Several times I reached out to what I thought might be an arrowhead only to be disappointed by a sharp edged rock.  Moving slowly as I searched, I overheard some excitement as our leader identified a shark's tooth.  The small group around him leaned in for a look as he continued to talk about the history of this area.  Another child was awarded the find as our guide resumed his hunt.

After a time of staring at the ground, occasionally depositing interesting rocks in my pockets, I began to look around me at the others that were on this hunt.  Several young children were occupied with digging in the riverbed with shovel and bucket.  One teenager could be seen sitting in the water swishing the water around him.  A mother was documenting the day by taking pictures with her phone.  A few young people were collecting sticks they found by the wayside and one was carrying an interesting piece of driftwood.  Overall, most were walking with head down, scanning the ground for the next find.

At the end of our hunt, we were going home with shells, bones, driftwood, rocks, shark's teeth, petrified wood, and pretty rocks.  The prize of the morning was a second arrowhead, also found by our guide who kept this one for himself.

On the way home I considered what our leader had accomplished by sharing his passion for hunting arrowheads and artifacts.   Did everyone find an arrowhead today? No. He was the only one who actually located any arrowheads.  Did everyone find some type of artifact? No. Some went home with dinosaur vertebrae and shark's teeth, but most went home with rocks, shells, and sticks.  Will everyone become an arrowhead enthusiast because of this trip? No.  Some might return for another try at an arrowhead find, but most will move on to something with which they think they can be more successful.  Why would someone take the time to share their passion with so little return on their investment?

At the end of this day, his return on investment may appear to be small, but it will take years to determine the depth of his impact.  Someone shared their passion with him decades ago, and that impact was felt on this day!

The next time you are sharing your passion with others, don't be discouraged by an apparent lack of interest.  Consider that if you have influenced just one person, your impact can be more far reaching than you know!  Keep sharing your passions!

P.S. Our passionate arrowhead hunting guide shares his passion on his YouTube channel, as well.  His alias is Indiana Smith.  Click here for an example of one of his arrowhead hunting adventures!