Finding your people

For nearly 20 years I have been looking for my teacher community. And for the past year and a half, even in my Bachelor of Education program, I've still felt on the outside. Inspired by project-based learning, gifted education, and homeschooling, I have formed very definitive ideas about the kind of teacher I want to be and the kind of classroom I want to create. And through it all, I felt very alone.

Then, this year, a brand new school in Kitchener, Ontario opened up. Just under 2 hours away from me, the entire vision of the school is based around inquiry and project-based learning. Finally, I found a place to which my philosophy of "teacher as mentor and classroom as workshop" aligns perfectly. In reading the vision of the principal, I felt as though I personally could have written every word. Everything in me wishes I was close enough to work at his school, but that is not the case. Instead, I suppose I will take it as another step and avenue of support as I continue to forge my own path.

If you're wondering, here's the vision of Groh Public School and principal Helmut Tinnes:

Groh P.S. will be a world class school with a community of autonomous learners engaged in meaningful inquiry and project based learning opportunities on a globally-oriented campus.
To create this vision, there will be a combination of three essential elements to prepare students for secondary school in advance of preparing them for the workplace:

• a freedom-based, open and inclusive learning environment

• enhanced project-based learning opportunities through inquiry

• interaction with the larger world – to collaborate with students around the world

If you have spent much time with me, well, ever, then you'll probably smile a little reading that and know that yes, I've finally found my people.

Minimalist: the bathroom counter

I consume articles about minimalism like I do chocolate and Granny Smith apples. The trouble is that I haven't yet been able to transfer these much sought after yet elusive concepts in my life. I always recount the story of the day I sat in my friend's living room and realized there were seven things in the entire room. Literally, if seven people came in an each took one thing, the room would have been empty. It wasn't that I was striving to imitate someone else's look; it was that I truly felt at peace in that room. It turns out that visual clutter also clutters up my mind and spirit.

In our transition period right now, we are are amalgamating households to support my mother-in-law. While we search for an appropriate dual living space, we are all crammed into her house (which was bigger than our house - I'm not sure she would have wanted to sleep on the couch). This means two things: 1) most of our stuff we got rid of, or is in a small 10x10 locker space, and 2) most of my mother-in-law's stuff is what is filling our current space.

So I feel my hands are a little tied for the time being, and it's starting to mentally take its toll. I realized this lately as things started to slowly disappear from my bathroom counter. A few weeks back, I decided I didn't need two tubes of toothpastes, so I popped one back into the cupboard. A few days later, I took off the facecloth that sat there, unused. Then I decided the decorative jars didn't really need to be in the corner, and I moved them to the shelf.

Yesterday, as I went to brush my teeth, I looked at the long 36" counter and realized that only the things left on top were what we truly needed every day: toothbrushes, toothpaste, a cup and hand soap. I stood there for a minute and smiled. I had subconsciously been working toward minimalism.

Now it has moved into my conscious stream. Surfaces are my weakness. I'm eyeing that dresser and armoire top and my side table...