Playing With Legos
When thinking about the future, I first begin thinking about the past. Creating art has always been a part of my life from childhood to the present, either formally (as a part of my undergraduate coursework) or informally (self-guided casual projects). Thinking about my future plans in K-12 leadership and what I need to set those plans in motion, I found myself thinking back further to a time in life when Legos were my art. I remember recruiting my brothers, cousins, and friends to help build upon my ideas and make them a reality. I remember tossing the instructions from a new kit and doing my own thing. I remember the beautiful and intricate worlds that I created. From my Lego memories, I have categorized three areas in which I would like to focus my future learning: leadership, technology, and art.
Part of effective leadership is having innovative ideas, but without a trusting and supportive climate as well as respectful, open communication with colleagues and other stakeholders those ideas may never be built. Being at the beginning of my leadership journey, I know this is something I will have to actively pursue to continue to hone the skills I have learned from my time pursuing my Master of Arts in Education (MAED) at Michigan State University (MSU). Being a student athlete both at the high school and collegiate level as well as a high school coach, I think the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s (MHSAA) Women In Sports Leadership (WISL) Conference would be a great resource. They provide many topics essential to hiring and training coaches as well as relevant topics on current issues in Sport Leadership. This would also be a great networking opportunity as I am not currently in a K-12 environment. Another way I can continue my leadership knowledge and skills is to complete the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals’ Path to Leadership Program.This program will utilize my knowledge and experience gained through the MAED program at MSU and build upon it to obtain administrator certification in the state of Michigan.
In my professional roles I like to follow directions carefully and thoroughly but thinking back to playing with Legos, throwing the directions out was the most liberating part of the journey to my creations. I still feel this way about technology today. I never read a manual for a new phone or computer – I just start playing. My future learning goal for technology is to research and play with new technologies for the classroom. Technology changes so rapidly that I want to be sure to dedicate and plan time to research and play. One great resource I learned of while viewing the work of my fellow graduate students at MSU is the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL). ). Their annual conference would be a great way to have a scheduled and social interaction to learn about new technologies and network with other educators. Subscribing to MACUL’s online journal would be another way to ensure time is spent researching and playing.
Watching my three sons now create and build their own intricate and beautiful scenes out of Legos sparks up my own feelings of the peacefulness I have creating something as well as the satisfying feeling of completing an artistic project. That type of problem solving and stress relief is something I know I will need in the future both in my future roles as an educator as well as personally. Eventually down my educational journey, I plan to complete a second bachelor’s degree in the visual arts because although I am creative I also crave structure and deadlines. I would also like to add Visual Arts as a teaching endorsement to my current Michigan teaching certificate. Because this is something a little further down the road, my current plan is to continue to informally research and try new techniques for my personal enrichment and practice. Something I have been working on recently is Stippling or Pointillism – basically drawing with only a bunch of tiny dots. The image is my work in progress of my husband’s niece who passed away too soon. The YouTube time lapse video gives an idea of what the process looks like.
*Update* I am pleased to say that I have since pursued and will achieve this goal of adding a K-12 Visual Arts certification in May 2021 and currently teach visual arts a public elementary school.
Playing with Legos as a child taught me many things I would use and continue to develop in the future: leadership, playing with technology, and creating art. Reflecting on the past and understanding how that shapes my future goals will be a continuing process of learning and growth. This reflection process, setting future goals, and growing will be the foundation for being a caring and thoughtful leader in education.