but it is the journey that matters in the end.
-Ursula LeGuin
There were times I thought I was crazy for working on this degree after teaching for twenty years: the monetary expenses of a Master's degree cannot be paid back in the years I have left in the classroom, juggling the mom/teacher demands with a preschooler and teenagers at home, my love for art and literature taking a backseat to the requirements of my class loads... I could go on and on. I did it anyways, and although the challenges felt great I was able to persevere and learn more than I thought was possible.
I could not have made it to this "checkpoint" without the interactions in my learning communities. I was constantly being pushed to do things I was uncomfortable doing, simply because I was unfamiliar with them or they were new to me. Blogging was one of those things. I'm more of a person-to-person kind of person. I did realize, though, that through the blogs we were able to discuss what we noticed in our readings, what spoke to us, our challenges and successes, and through that new learning was taking place. The resources shared by the others in this learning community expanded my thinking. The readings in this class helped me grow as a teacher and the project helped me grow as a mentor. I feel like what I have learned here has inspired me to stretch not only myself, but what I do with technology.
Thank you so much for helping me get here. :)