In this anniversary episode, Devon and Leah reflect on two years of working with teachers to offer their unique blend of professional learning and wellness.
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Why did we start KG Education?
Devon: We enjoy working together and have so much fun together. We wanted to create the kind of professional learning that we wanted to attend ourselves. For rural teachers, PD often involves driving somewhere. We wanted to offer local PD that showcases some of the great things in small towns. We wanted it to be unique. We wanted to blend wellness and professional learning. We wanted to build self-care into our professional learning offerings. We wanted things to feel inspiring, refreshing and different. We didn’t want it to be a “one and done”; we wanted to build sharing and community that would last beyond the professional development session.
What event stands out to you the most?
Leah: Our new KG Education Book Club.
Devon: Our first ever learning retreat that blended wellness, professional learning and community.
Why did we create Cultivating Connection, our online professional learning community?
Devon: Relationships and connection are at the heart of everything, so we chose to focus on the theme of connection. We address connection to self, connection to students, connection to families and connections with the wider community. (Learn more at kgeducation.ca/cultivatingconnection)
Leah: We really wanted to preserve our combination of wellness with professional learning even though we moved to an online format for Cultivating Connection. Devon created recorded yoga and meditation practices that are included, just like we do the blend of PD and wellness at our learning retreats.
What’s happening with Cultivating Connection for next year?
Leah: We are planning to accept new members for the 2021-2022 school year. Get on the waitlist at kgeducation.ca/cultivatingconnection
What is your biggest takeaway from the last 2 years?
Leah: One of the biggest lessons is how necessary it has been to take risks and try new things. Especially because of the pandemic, we’ve been forced to stretch and grow in different ways. We were just nicely getting into offering in-person learning retreats when schools closed and we could no longer have in-person PD. We had to stop and think about what we were going to do next and then we came up with the idea for Cultivating Connection, our online PLC. It highlighted the importance of being able to change, adapt and be flexible.
The other thing is how grateful I am for all of the teachers I’ve got to connect with through KG Education over the last two years. Thank you so much for being part of our community and supporting us and working with us. It’s been incredible to get to know so many more teachers and work together.
Devon: If it’s not fun, I don’t want to do it. KG is our passion project. We’ve found a lot of ways to make our work days fun. We often do a movement practice together and enjoy a yummy lunch.
Action inspires clarity (from Marie Forleo). The pandemic threw us for a loop and we really didn’t know what to do. It prompted us to try a lot of different things. We’ve done Back to School Boost, we offered a wellness challenge, we started our book club.
What’s a common misconception about what we do as KG Education?
Devon: I think that a lot of teachers feel like what we offer is not “real PD” that they can use professional learning budget for because there is a wellness component. That is not the case at all. I am the teacher PD chair in FLBSD and one of our priorities is mental health and wellness.
We provide receipts and we provide a sample letter that you can use to request professional development funds. This is “real PD”.
Leah: I think a big misunderstanding is that our professional learning is an “extra” that you’d have to do on your own time and your own budget, but I think your principals and administrators would be happy to support the kind of professional learning that you’ll experience at KG Education.
After 2 years, what are you most proud of?
Leah: I am most proud of launching Cultivating Connection because it was a huge undertaking! It was so much bigger than what we imagined when we started planning.
What’s coming next?
Devon: I’ve been working on the podcast. We’ve been trying really hard to connect our community with different educators from around the world.
Leah: We are also going to be getting ready to open up Cultivating Connection to new members.
Devon: We are getting ready for a summer book club! I am previewing a couple of books right now.
Thinking about your vision for KG Education, how could it be even better?
Devon: The KG Education community could get on a plane and fly somewhere for a 1-2 week learning and wellness retreat with yoga, meditation, professional learning plus cocktails and great entertainment.
Leah: I am so excited about our community continuing to grow and bringing in new members for Cultivating Connection so that we can continue to grow, share and learn together to strengthen those connections that are so vital.
Get in on the Anniversary Giveaway!
We want you to celebrate along with us, so we’ve got some fun giveaways this month! We are giving away:
a book from our recommended reads list sent to you
a $25 Brierwood Creek Cafe & Grill gift card (our great local restaurant)
one free membership to our online summer personal development book club session
There will be opportunities to enter throughout the month of May. Get started by visiting this post on Instagram or this post on Facebook!
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Learn with Us
Get on the waitlist for our next Book Club, beginning in summer 2021!
Join Cultivating Connection, our online professional learning community for educators.
Contact us to book a learning retreat or workshop.