Tender, strong, silly and smart, elephants tug at our emotions and, perhaps, we at theirs. Watch any elephant closely and you'll quickly notice intelligence in their eyes, as well as the sense of playfulness. -Jessica Tracy As I created this video about my journey over the past eight weeks, I searched for a song that would be just right. I stumbled upon “Everything We Wanted” by Pure Mids opening with the line, “feels the same but everything is changing,” and it really struck me. This year has felt routine in ways, but it has also been a season of growth. I got married and my husband deployed, started grad school, live across the country from family, and have taken on the role of grade chair. I reflected on my identity. My intersectionality of white, female, heterosexual, and ablebodied. My career as an educator and innovator. My personality as optimistic, kind, and adventurous. Myself as a traveler, wife, daughter, sister, friend, yogi, writer, hiker, and artist. And I have dreams to be more. This video attempts to represent all these parts, and my journey through making and innovating in my classroom this semester. I broke a filter bubble, delved into copyright, explored Universal Design for Learning, and redesigned my classroom. I learned to be okay with imperfection and view failure as iteration. What beneficial topics to learn working in areas of diversity and need. I love teaching yet am more than a teacher. I’ve taken this perspective with my students, too. Outside the walls of my classroom, they are other things -- athletes, sons, daughters, readers, sisters, brothers, pranksters, friends. I wish for my classroom to accept them as they are and allow them to blossom into more. The video ends in an elephant-shaped collage. I came across a post in my research quoting a Greek tablet. It says to watch any elephant closely and you’ll notice both intelligence and playfulness (Tracy, 2018) This is what I hope for myself and for the lives of my students. References
Everything we wanted [Recorded by Pure Mids]. Single track [mp3]. Dreamtime Palace. Retrieved from https://www.jamendo.com/track/1657649/everything-we-wanted?language=en Tracy, Jessica. (2018, August 19). Elephant symbolism and elephant spiritual meaning [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://7chakrastore.com/blogs/news/elephant-symbolism-and-elephant-spiritual-meaning
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Hi there!I'm Sarah! I have a passion for powerful teaching and lifelong learning. I am a 4th grade teacher turned instructional designer, and this is my blog documenting the journey. Click here to get in touch with me. Archives
February 2021
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