12 Months of Thrive

In January 2024, I set out to write an (almost) monthly newsletter. I wanted to stay connected, in a more authentic way with the amazing educators and co-conspirators I have met in my work to build a transformative landscape for education. I love social media, but I wanted something a little more intimate. This blog space is great too, but again, I wanted to speak to people who have opted into my work; the hopeful, the messy, the inspiring, the vulnerable, the always learning educators. 

Of course, committing to a monthly deadline was a little daunting; juggling it with the normal demands of my consultancy work. Committing to monthly deadlines felt scary too; the vulnerability of sharing your writing doesn't go away the older you get. Despite the fears, I wanted to commit. 

I titled my newsletter Thrive. It's a word that I keep coming back to this year; for my students, my fellow educators, myself. Throughout lots of disheartening moments as educators, I wish for us to co-construct a different landscape.  Not one grounded in competition, test scores, or "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" excellence. An educational paradigm that helps multilingual learners, educators, and myself feel more whole.

Always messy and always with my nose (or ears) in a professional text, I also reviewed 12 multimodal texts that might contribute to an educator's understanding of the world. They weren't all the typical professional texts: they were videos, social media threads, memoirs, YA lit too. As an inquirer, I know there are learnings, perspectives, and deeper understandings to be gained from hidden gems. I tried to bring that spirit to the texts I reviewed in Thrive.

For those of you reading this, who are newsletter subscribers....thank you for coming along with me on this journey. ♥️