Fear not, this is not a post about religion!
Easter is Coming!!
Easter is only 15 days away, so resurrection is all the rage in the news these days. What’s that, you say? You haven’t been reading about resurrection all over the front pages? Maybe you didn’t even realize Easter was near until you went to the grocery store and noticed that the Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs had taken over the spot that until recently was filled by the Reese’s Valentine’s Day Hearts. In any case, resurrection is definitely all the rage.
People’s Exhibit 1: Business Insider Article, March 23, 2017
Feel free to read the article by clicking on the above link. But, in short, it goes on to describe how Google’s “New” Location Sharing feature of Google Maps(left) is virtually identical to their 2009 app, Latitude(right), only enhanced by their technological advances since.
It’s an Easter Miracle!!!!
Wait. I think there already was an Easter miracle.
Regardless, this article, and resurrection season got me thinking. What was I doing years ago that may be worth resurrecting in my own career or life now? I thought back to that time and so much has changed since then, when suddenly something just kind of flashed into my mind, a snapshot of the past…specifically…
In 2009, my wife and I decided it was time to upgrade from our old digital cameras to a nice DSLR. So, after months of deliberation and procrastination, we bought this one, the Pentax K-x, in 2010. We got a couple lenses with it, read about all of the features, and learned a lot from the internet about DSLR photography. We were enamored with our new camera and took some pretty awesome pictures (see below). But after a while and a couple more kids, the DSLR became part of the background as we eventually worked our way up to taking 100% of our photos on our smartphones so that we could share them faster and reminisce sooner. But man, oh man, that camera took some good pictures.
So, for me, it’s time to resurrect the Pentax K-x. Time to blow off the dust, re-learn what I once knew, and document my experiences and my life with the family through a better lens. I learned a lot through my time with that camera. I learned about the camera, setting, light, darkness, shutter speed, patience, and capturing moments that were, well, Relevant, to me. But I’m ready to learn more, to grow my understanding of photography, to create new memories and to involve my children in the process. My call to you…
What hobby, skill, or idea from your past is worth resurrecting in your life now? What’s stopping you from bringing it back?
One final caveat: Stacey Lindes (@iruntech) recently wrote on her blog about teachers who say “I taught this last year so I can just pull out my old lesson plans!” instead of investing the time and energy in Lesson Creation with their current students in mind. Don’t take my challenge as a call to dig up that old project you used to do, dust it off, and throw it in front of your current students. If you do dig it up and dust it off, do more with it. Think about how you can improve it, how technology can enhance your students’ experience, how giving students choice in redesigning it can take their learning to new places, and how you can grow as a teacher through this. I guarantee you, that’ll be an excellent day of school for you and your students.