Impact. It may be the single word we educators can continue to agree upon as every other term around us evolves.
We each came into this profession with a desire to change the world, to create our envisioned future based on experiences we would have personally changed, things we had to fight through, and advantages we believe everyone deserves access to.
And while no one can do everything, we can each do something.
As educators we have chosen a lane of service. In service, we see life as whole and connected, and empathize with the infinite needs surrounding us. We are optimistic in the capacity to solve our own problems - and with technology - we now have the capabilities to do so. Those of use with power and privileges as educators need to ask, “How can we do better?” “How can we serve with intentionality in a way that aligns with our greatest skills, content knowledge and pedagogy?”
The global pandemic, which has left 1.725 billion children and youth around the globe learning in an Emergency Remote Teaching model, propelled teachers into an online learning atmosphere with the need to translate live, in-person instruction and pedagogy into online platforms. Levels of access to critical resources for teachers and families became more apparent, with school closures placing a spotlight on out of school learning factors such as household time, income, social and psychological capital, financial resources, and educational backgrounds.
And while we could continue listing all of the problems surrounding us this year, we have the potential to offer one another the solution. The solution is found in giving.
The value of giving is our collective North Star. It is our vision for the world of education. It is found in identifying the systemic way to make the world of education more just and equal. It is about intentionality and service, it is about every single one of us teachers.
Teachers are notably overwhelmed with the abundance of physical and digital information streams when switching to remote learning.
At Education Blueprint, we envision a world where all teachers have continued access to and knowledge of all digital education resources available to support classroom instruction and management, therefore providing equitable access to learning for children around the globe. Built by research and curated by teachers, our interactive, collaborative website allows all teachers the ability to upload and download content, to connect to fellow educators, and to identify and share supporting classroom resources in all K-12 subject areas.
We invite you this season to GIVE a resource, and by doing so change how teachers interact, communicate, work, learn, and generate new knowledge. It is in giving that we will collectively solve the burden to sort through the abundance of digital content available to support our students. It is in giving our resources that we will in turn give one another more joy and success in the classroom. Collectively giving creates IMPACT, an idea we can all get behind.