Why am I writing this personal entry? Well, it is not an attempt to gain any sympathy. It attempts to show what is possible if a clear intention and goal serve the learner's needs. In May of 2022 just near the end of another fantastic school year, I do not remember what happened. But, I was unable to finish the school year and was unable to teach the following year. Why? On May 21st, 2022, I fell down a flight of 16 stairs (luckily carpeted) from the 2nd to 1st story of our home. I was found at the bottom of the stairs. I was found foaming at the mouth. This would lead to a 2-month hospital stay which included an induced coma because my seizures would not stop, several rounds of lumbar punctures, and relearning basic physical movements like something as simple as being able to roll in the hospital bed. Simply put, when I was admitted to the hospital, I was diagnosed as being “critically ill.” Please take a moment and read those words: critically ill. They are not terms...
I am still Mike Mohammad
I am not a “yeah me” kind of person, but yesterday June 4th was an amazing day for me professionally. Two years ago on June 4th, I was in a medical coma (we’ll save that story for a future post.) I am proud of my work yesterday, I just wanted to take a moment to share it and celebrate myself (which I never do.)
If you don’t know me, I have been a secondary science educator for 20+ years and have taught 7 different science courses in my career. This year, though, I had been asked to make the transition to a Teaching and Learning Specialist. In this role, I work with teachers with EdTech tools and have a specialty in our district’s learning management system Canvas. I was one of the first teachers to pilot the system and have used it extensively in my classroom to help streamline workflows. Its use also helps in college readiness as most universities in our state, Wisconsin, use it as their learning management system.
Ok, enough of that let’s talk about June 4th.
As I walked into the building, the first thing I was asked was to cover for a teacher's 1st block. Over the past few months, I have been covering for teachers here and there so that was not out of the norm. It has been a gift to see what other teachers are doing in their classrooms. This was no exception as students in 20th Century History were being asked to create a children’s book based on one of several different topics. These included the following topics:
American Indian Movement
Feminist Movement
Gay Rights Movement
Chicano Movement
Disability Rights Movement
Free Speech Movement
Students had worktime to use a digital platform of their choice such as Google Slides or Canva to create the book.
After this subbing assignment, I went directly to record evidence of an amazing session called Lancer Boost. Later that day, I took these recordings and edited them over a few hours I was able to turn those recordings into a video.
While working on editing the video I was able to assist another teacher with a specific Canvas issue dealing with TurnItIn.com. The issue was that while the other students’ files were viewable, for some reason this student’s assignment wasn’t showing up. We collaborated and quickly came up with a solution that worked!
The fact that I was able to not just complete these tasks individually 2 years later is one thing. But being able to shift between these different tasks over the course of a day makes me very proud. Like I said before, I am not a “yeah me” type of person. But, I can’t help but feel proud of how far I’ve come despite where I was in a coma 2 years ago.
These are complex tasks that require the ability to juggle multiple pieces of information in the air. With the help of tools and taking things at a different pace, I hope to continue to prove the doubters wrong and be “Mike Mohammad”.
While working on editing the video I was able to assist another teacher with a specific Canvas issue dealing with TurnItIn.com. The issue was that while the other students’ files were viewable, for some reason this student’s assignment wasn’t showing up. We collaborated and quickly came up with a solution that worked!
The fact that I was able to not just complete these tasks individually 2 years later is one thing. But being able to shift between these different tasks over the course of a day makes me very proud. Like I said before, I am not a “yeah me” type of person. But, I can’t help but feel proud of how far I’ve come despite where I was in a coma 2 years ago.
These are complex tasks that require the ability to juggle multiple pieces of information in the air. With the help of tools and taking things at a different pace, I hope to continue to prove the doubters wrong and be “Mike Mohammad”.
Comments
Post a Comment