{"data":{"ID":1035,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1572994871,"CreatorID":79,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"Following your North Star as a journeying educator","Handle":"following_your_north_star_as_a_journeying_educator","ShortDescription":"Does your vision for courageous teaching match the reality that you face day to day? What stands in the way? In this conversation, we will discuss the complex personal and environmental challenges facing educators, and craft the tools with which to navigate them. Join us to map your guiding star: defining the tactics, practices, and supports that will lead you to thrive amidst struggle.","Description":"Why do we teach? Today, in the age of high-stakes testing and ever-revolving reforms, we seem to focus more on the *how* and *what* of teaching, rather than the overarching *why* that called us to action in the first place. Strung in every direction, we too easily lose sight of the teacher selves we strive to be. Too often we get caught in inauthentic systems, and as such we march right on the precipice of burnout. \r\n\r\nIt is important to ask, what kills the spirit of the educator? For it is not simply the loads that we bear -- the stressors, the battles, the toiling into the night. What kills us, instead, is the realization that our toil may be for nought: that our most authentic selves shall not belong in the work of teaching. That what we do does not match what we NEED to do to matter.\r\n\r\nAs such, perhaps the greatest lift to our spirits is to revisit our North Star: as Zac Chase ritualizes each year, Why we want to teach. Why do we teach, after all? If we shall find the values and purposes that drive us, perhaps then we may be more conscious of the practices that so deceive us -- and we may toil instead to do the work that matters in our hearts.","Link":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/liorschenk"],"Audience":["All School Levels"],"Practice":"- drafting mission statements: Why I Want to Teach\r\n- annotating text to identify teaching values (idealized and enacted)\r\n- comparing values to current practices and routines in our classes\/schools\r\n- collaborating towards systems and practices that better match our authentic selves, through design thinking exercises ie storyboarding, scenario planning, fear setting\r\n- learning other systems for survival and thriving, such as networked support for new teachers and 80\/20 practice to identify the moves that matter most","Presenter":["Lior Schenk"],"PresenterAffiliation":["SLA \/ Penn GSE \/ Environmental Charter School"],"PresenterEmail":["lschenk@gse.upenn.edu"],"ScheduleSlotID":140,"ScheduleLocationID":9,"SubmitterID":79,"AdditionalComments":"Chris! SLA family!! I'm so excited to see everyone again. Especially my copper\/iron class of 2020!!! I know it's been such an overwhelming and unjust start to the year. You've been in my thoughts and I hope you can get your feet under you soon.\r\n\r\nI've been digging deep this past week to find the conversation that matters most. Here's what I've got! Any feedback or improvements, I'd love to hear. :)\r\n\r\nThis conversation is for the educators struggling to find their way, who pour their passion into their work every day but still feel trapped -- and still haven't found the tribe they need. As someone in this same position previously, I know quite well the risks and threats befallen the lost educator. Especially new teachers. I hope that this conversation will reconnect  professionals to the values that drive them, as well as provide actionable strategies for those overwhelmed by the work we do. \r\n\r\nPeace and love.\r\nLior","LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":9}}