Who and Why?

First thing's first. Who am I?

This is me. My name is Kathy Holt. I'm a 4th grade ELAR teacher in Texas. This year is my 10th year of teaching. I taught first grade for eight years and honestly thought I probably always would. Then, last year, I was moved to fourth grade. This was a scary change. I don't think I've ever questioned myself so much, not even in my first years of teaching! But it's been absolutely fantastic. I adore fourth graders. And I absolutely love being able to concentrate all of my energy and passion on literacy. I am passionate about growing students into not just strong readers and writers, but lifelong learners.

So, second question - Why? Why am I doing this? Why start a blog in the first place? Why now? Well, a couple of reasons.

Reason Number 1: My little sister. She inspires me! My sister, Stephanie, started her first year of teaching this year. She's teaching middle school math and has moved out to East Texas to do so. As she's embarked on this crazy adventure, starting something completely new, moving away from everyone and everything she knows, she decided to begin blogging her journey. I love being able to keep up with her this way and how she is so openly sharing it all with the world. (You should check her out! https://slavone.wordpress.com) And I thought, maybe I have some thoughts worth sharing as well! 

Reason Number 2: My brain is a very chaotic place. If you know anything about CliftonStrengths, my number one strength is Ideation. This translates to...ideas are swirling in my head constantly, I'm always thinking, it never stops. This sums up Ideation to me very nicely.

And sometimes all of these thoughts jumbling around in my head just need an outlet. My ramblings about my classroom or thoughts on literacy and education aren't always appropriate for my Facebook wall. I'm a realist, I know people on Facebook are looking for basic updates and pictures of my adorable kids...

...obviously! (I mean, c'mon! So cute, right?!) And Twitter's limited characters is a definite challenge for me and my often long-winded ways. So having a blog, like a journal, a place where I can come and just write, share my thoughts and reflections, allow all my ideas to process...I thought it could be therapeutic for me. Maybe people will read it. Maybe they won't. Either way, it's for me. A place to process, to ponder, to reflect, and to think.

Onto another why - Why Pensive Pedagogy?

Would you be surprised to know that I've been thinking about starting a blog for weeks? Maybe even a few months? I've had several ideas of posts I'd like to make. Why didn't I start sooner? THE NAME! I couldn't figure out what I wanted to call it...and I simply could not move on from there. Trust me, this name thing has had my Ideation working in overdrive! But I finally settled on one today. (Honestly, I wanted to keep thinking about it. I made myself just DO it! Stop thinking, and let's get going! It's definitely a basement of my Ideation that this is so hard for me to do.)

Pensive - adj. - engaged in, involving, or reflecting deep or serious thought.

Pedagogy - n. - the art or science of teaching; education; instructional methods

As I contemplated what I really wanted this blog to be about, I kept coming back to that thinking I'm always doing. Reflecting. Contemplating. And I knew I wanted it to be based in my classroom. Reading. Writing. But maybe more? Best practices. Assessment. Educational Technology. I don't know...ALL of it! Eventually, I came up with Pensive Pedagogy. Thoughtful reflection on teaching and my educational practices. That will be my goal, my focus-ish!

Well, we shall see how this goes. I hope it's a project I will keep up with. I hope I don't abandon it like every other time I've started journaling in the past. I hope I don't go three months between entries. However, I make no promises. We shall see. It will be an adventure!

💗 K.