By Hayley Ferguson

Medicine Hat Education

Medicine Hat teacher represents Canada in international education innovation program

Dec 3, 2019 | 5:39 PM

Medicine Hat, AB – Failure is okay as long as you continue.

That was the challenge that Medicine Hat Christian School Teacher Jessilyn Swanson took to Sweden last month while taking part in Google’s Certified Innovator Program.

“As part of the academy, we spent three days working through design thinking progress. So coming up with a lot of ideas in a short amount of time, putting our fear of failure aside. And they mixed in a lot of really cool team building actives and challenges but also some serious work time on our projects. It was a really amazing week,” she smiled.

Swanson was the lone Canadian out of 36 teachers from across the world to take part in the three-day event.

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She discovered the program in 2018 and had applied twice before being accepted.

Involved in the application was receiving certifications from Google and to write about how she uses technology in her classroom.

As well, teachers needed to present a challenge they see in education

“The week of the academy I felt so emotional just even going there knowing I worked for this for a year. And those two rejection emails,I was very vocal about it online, I had told so many people like I’m going for this, I’m going to do this. And then when I didn’t get in, it was crushing really,” she explained.

For Swanson, it was teaching students about facing challenges and failures.

It was for that reason Swanson said she wasn’t going to give up on applying.

“Through the process I really developed resiliency. And I developed more confidence in myself to know what I’m good at. And to take feedback from other people who had done the program and learn to take suggestions,” she continued. “It was really exciting to feel that accomplishment of I worked so hard for and I did it. And just to be considered one of the people in the room was pretty special.”

Swanson that one of the biggest takeaways for her from the event was to embrace technology even more.

“I think that the temptation can be to want to just prohibit and say ‘no that’s not allowed here.’ But I think we kind of know historically prohibition doesn’t really work that well,” Swanson explained “And that if we can teach our kids to use these tools, that are always going to be available to them, for good and for leadership. And to allow them that space to use what they have. There are potential impacts that go far beyond just education.”

The Medicine Hat teacher says that she is excited to continue to work on her challenge in her classroom and continue to work with the other teachers to further it.