Time for an Update?

Is it time for an update in your classroom, personal life, or both?

Whether it's a haircut, room arrangement, phone upgrade, lesson idea, or recipe, an update could be just the thing that could give us a boost into a new and positive outlook on our current situation.

While heading to work on Monday morning, I listened to a cheerful morning Voxer message from my Iowa Educators Voxer group friend, Aaron Maurer (otherwise known as @coffeechugbooks --> find him here on Twitter and his blog).

He had been listening to a podcast on his early morning run and was describing to us how the speaker had this phrase, "We don't need to change -- we need to update." Aaron went on to describe how the word "change" sometimes unnecessarily has a negative connotation, especially when it comes to education. Updating, however, is more positive because it doesn't imply that what you're doing isn't working, but an increase in functionality would be nice!

This is what I've been thinking about all week. I've definitely made some changes this year, but I have also been able to identify many ongoing "updates" that continue to spin what I'm currently doing into a positive light. I'm not afraid of change, and am usually very open to changes (sometimes to a fault), but I am beginning to see how an update is a positive step towards, or twist on, what many educators fear -- change. So if you're facing a change, or trying to help someone through one, see if an update is what you're looking for instead!