We have hit that time of the year. The one where the odds of getting a snow day anytime soon is pretty slim (at least where we are); Spring Break is close enough to feel like you can grab hold of it but far enough away to feel like we are never going to get there; fake spring where we get really nice days that make us feel like spring is just around the corner only to be followed by another day below freezing from out of nowhere; and the time of year where it is sometimes hard to be excited about getting up and doing the things for another day.
I had always just called it blah, but I have discovered it’s actually now called languishing, or at least it was in 2021. As I taught class this morning, it was starting as one of those blah days. I knew I had class to teach, then a day full of meetings. What I didn’t expect was to have something happen that would ramp up my excitement for a project that involves doing things I am not normally super comfortable with doing.
A little bit ago, I was approached by someone interested in donating money towards something I would like to have for our department that would benefit all of our students. I started thinking through what I could use and all of a sudden I was dreaming. Dreaming of a lab in our building with lots of technology tools that students could try so they are able to find potential tools for their future classrooms. A lab that was a collaborative space for students and professors. A lab that could be utilized to build on our partnerships with local districts. Also a lab that I had no clue how to make happen.
I needed to find a room that wouldn’t cut into our classroom spaces, find some funding, get some things taken out of the room to make it a better space, find some funding, make a list of equipment and apps desired with priority, find some funding, determine what furniture I wanted to put in the room, find some funding, come up with a name for the lab. Did I mention find some funding? Today, after a ton of meetings, I just happened to stick my head in the room that we found to use today and all of a sudden the carpet that was in there is gone! I was so excited. That means this is really going to happen. At the end of the day, I was working at my desk and realized that I have received the first monetary donation, the first equipment donation, and now the first movement on turning this room into an awesome space. We even came up with a name for it today.
I guess that’s my excitement. The creation process of the future Engaging, Assisting, and Growing Learners and Educators Technology Lab or, as we will christen it at some point the E.A.G.L.E. Technology Lab. It’s a big thing, and I am super excited about it, and it has given me the energy that I needed to get through just one more day or just one more week, or even just one more month.
Take heed, my teacher friends. Spring Break is coming, we are moving to warmer weather, and the school year will be over before you know it. Find your excitement and channel that to keep you going until the next break. This is a hard job, but you were born for it.
