Several years ago, I took a yoga class. It was something I challenged myself to try as someone who has always prioritized strength over flexibility. My instructor, in the most calming voice you’ve ever heard, said something that has stuck with me all these years:

“We call it a practice because it’s something we continually grow in. There is no destination, no completion, no singular outcome. It’s a continual state of possibility.”

If that isn’t a perfect analogy for teaching and learning, I don’t know what is.

This semester, I’ve jumped back into my adjunct seat and am wrapping up my first fully online course. Throughout the semester, I’ve continually reminded myself of this idea of practice as it applies to both myself and my students. I’m growing my practice based on their feedback and performance, learning new perspectives, and being transformed by their energy and excitement.

But my students are practicing, too! We don’t expect them to know everything or complete every assignment perfectly. If they could, they probably wouldn’t need the class. We want them to try, ask questions, experiment, make mistakes, reflect, and keep going. Learning itself is a practice.

And practice is where we discover possibility.

Putting on my actor hat for a moment, most of the work in theatre happens in rehearsal. We may rehearse for weeks or months to perform only a handful of times. We experiment, adjust, fail spectacularly, laugh, and learn from one another, always willing to try something “one more time.”

Our work in education isn’t all that different. Much of a semester (or a year, or even a career) happens in that daily practice, through the small experiments, conversations, adjustments, collaborations, and wins that build our momentum and keep us moving forward. Assessment helps us see that progress, celebrate it, and ask one of my favorite questions:

Where to next?

That question is something we’ve been asking a lot in higher education lately. And while we may not have the answers, exploring what’s possible is at the heart of finding those answers and our upcoming learning conference.

This conference invites us to explore pedagogies, experiences, approaches, tools, collaborations, and mindsets that might lead us somewhere new. Maybe your next possibility comes from learning from something that didn’t work, finding more humor and joy in your practice, experimenting with a new tool, collaborating with someone outside your usual circle, or finding a new way to engage and support students.

And this practice doesn’t belong only to those of us teaching in classrooms. Across our college, faculty and staff are continually learning, adapting, problem-solving, collaborating, and helping students navigate systems and discover opportunities for success. Whatever our role, none of us has reached a final destination. There is always another question to ask, another approach to try, another person to learn from.

There are so many possibilities in front of us… the question is, what will you practice next?

Fall 2026 Practice and Possibilities Conference

Friday, October 23^rd, 2026
12:30-3:00 pm
2.5 hours FPG Pending

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Want more possibilities to practice? Check out our ongoing Accessibility Series, each week we will tackle a different set of accessibility skills to help you make progress on your accessibility journey!

Need Support? The CTLE is always here to support your practice and help you identify new possibilities. Whether it’s problem-solving, trying something new, or somewhere in between, discover the many ways we can support your teaching and learning journey.