Post #5 – OPWL 551

I recently watched the recording of Devlin Peck interviewing Sara Stevick on her transition from K12 to Instructional Design.  Sara has been a wonderful asset to teachers transitioning to the ID world, she has created a whole network of free resources for teachers to use to ease the transition.  These resources start with the Teaching a Path to Learning & Development website and the Linkedin group; it has expanded to include sign-ups for teachers to get 1:1 help with their resumes, interview practice, and just general mentoring.  Additionally, they have built some great connections within the Instructional Design field and have a fantastic job board.  

     This journey has been overwhelming at times, I often felt like I didn’t have what it took, and hearing from other teachers these feelings were normal were crucial in my journey.  While I have been waiting to start applying until I am done with many of these summer courses, I did apply for a local position and was able to sign up for a 1:1 call AND post in the group’s Slack channel for help or questions. 

Going forward I plan to continue to soak up any resource I can that will help me grow, and I would like to pay that back by helping in the group when I become established.  What so many of us teachers experience in the workplace is wrong, getting out is even harder because of the unconscious biases against teachers.  Knowing I have a large network of those who not only succeeded in getting out but are passionate about helping others is incredibly comforting.