Welcome to my blog. Although I like to consider my interests varied and eclectic, they could also be considered scattered and even slightly schizophrenic. Therefore I will do my best to stick to one of the three “t’s” in all things blogged.
To begin with I should introduce myself as a teacher. I have been teaching for 6 years in our beautiful city at the high school level. From the begining I have had the joy of working with highly intelligent and driven collegues who, for reasons beyond my comprehension, have patiently answered my questions and allowed me access to both their knowledge and their practise. I majored in Native Studies at university but have since honed my talents in various Social Sciences. A couple of years ago I had the unique and amazing opportunity of writing curriculum in an area I have developed a deep passion for. Not only did I have an opportunity to write curriculum, but I was also awarded the opportunity of collaborating with Mark Wildermann, and May Cummings, two of the most gifted educators I know. My most recent blessing, came as an appointment to the ranks of “Learning Leader” within my division. My struggle in teaching is to be relevant and effective. One of my goals this year is to master one or two technologies and bring them to my classroom. Last week I joined twitter. Please feel free to check on me at @tracylaverty
With all of this going on its hard to believe that my attention could be divided, but if passion can be divided, then travel definately shares the stage with teaching. Although I have travelled a little for conferences before teaching, teaching is what really opened up the world for me. In the beginning of my teacher education, I was given the opportunity to travel with my classmates to various First Nation sites in the United States. An amazing and eye opening education. However, it wasn’t until I truly began to understand societies and social interactions that I was “bitten” by the travel bug for real. And then, a few years ago, I attended a week long conference on the topic of Genocide with General Romeo Dallaire as the keynote. After that point, travel took on new meaning for me. From within this new perspective and with a group of like minded colleagues, I travelled to Rwanda in the summer of 2009 where we studied the genocide and the painful movement forward. The most important thing that I learned is that travel has amazing potential in education. In the case of Rwanda, it was teacher education, but I knew it didn’t end there. If we use it properly travel can create compassionate global citizens and break the bonds of ethnocentricity for good. My struggle this year is to create an authentic learning experience within our EFTours trip to Italy and Greece without taking the fun out of their first travel experience.
Finally, and probably most importantly, comes treasuring all that we have been given. Life is the most precious of gifts. I am truly blessed. Friends, family, career, all gifts I sometimes take for granted. If you are still reading, then thank you for the gift of your time and attention. I struggle the most in this area. I struggle for balance. I struggle for patience. I struggle to let go of the little things. And I even struggle to treasure the differnet paths that we have all chosen. If you choose to occasionaly follow or share my path then I hope that you will always feel free to bring me back to a place of balance where gifts can be treasured.
Check out this video
Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.
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