My Ever-Changing Lens
Author: Kathy Prophete
Admittedly, I have been absent from attending the Innovative Teacher Project events regularly for some time as I've been focused raising two young boys. I have reemerged from my self-imposed break to attend most the Roundtables this year.
It has been exciting to see the schools I visited more than five years ago. No matter how many times I visit a school I come away with a different gem of an idea, thought, or visual that I take with me that I didn't have before. I leave feeling inspired, grounded and present in my work. Each time I see a school I am different, I see the school through a new lens as I am continually evolving as an educator, teacher, director, and mother.
When I began attending Roundtables, about thirteen years ago, I was an unattached graduate student and now I'm a married mother of two. I am not the same educator I was thirteen years ago. In the peak of my involvement in the ITP I was directing a school and now I direct and teach at a small program out of my home. My lens is continually changing through the context in which I work, the families and children I serve. I continue reflect on what I see and hear from others which shifts my own thoughts, work, and practices.
When I express why I want to return to Reggio again I am greeted with the same question; why would you go to Reggio more than once? For me it's an easy answer, I am different, my lens is different than it was back in 2003. The work both here and in Reggio are continuing to evolve and grow so returning to the familiar to see it anew has immense value in my own journey. I look forward to my ever-changing lens continuing to drive my learning, collaboration, and practices with colleagues and the families I work with.
The ITP blog's purpose is to share individual and school experiences in relation to the Innovative Teacher Project. Educators from participating ITP roundtable schools will be contributing to the blog as we move into a new school year, reflecting on the experiences this year and looking forward the roundtable's return in the spring.