What I have learned Part 8: If you don't love what you are doing.... do something else

I love this little clip. Every time I watch it I go back and examined my own teaching practices. Sometimes I catch myself falling into the some of these patterns. It's easy to stand in front of a class and yap, hand out worksheets and "teach the same thing 25 times". It reminds me of Dr. Seuss' "Oh, The Places You'll Go". Especially the following quote:

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Like the poem says,  I'm just not content with doing things that don't excite me any more. I want to try new things. This is one of the reasons I started the Digital Immersion Program at Riverside. I didn't want to be a "teacher" in the traditional sense. I wanted to be the "lead learner" among a group of inquisitive people. It's like Dufour's community of learners but with students as the primary inquiry group.

During this process, admin, parents, students and other teachers were are all very supportive and eager to join in. I think it helped revitalize some of them as well. The support is there... but you need to try/ask/beg to do what you love to do.

Passion, perseverance and planning will go a long way :)