Finding Your Voice

On a windy Saturday, I spent my afternoon in a dark theater watching The King's Speech. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. In my Ebert moment, two thumbs up and it should win the Oscar.

While I am not going to give away any details. the entire theme of the movie is overcoming life's obstacles and finding your voice. This seems to be perfect timing right now. My school is at that point of the year where there is too much complaining and not enough action.

My school isn't perfect, but what school is? We have good students overall, a staff with lots of experience, and an administration that supports so many ideas. We have all the parts, but seem to lack something that puts it all together. So many teachers, not just ones in my school, have great ideas they don't give a voice to. Why? Fear of the word No, extra work, colleagues' opinions, or something else?

If you have that good idea, give it a voice. As someone who has spoke up a time or two with good and bad results, here are some potentially helpful hints:

1. Think it through! Stop before you run to the principal's office with that good idea that popped into your head. Try to look at your idea from all viewpoints to work out the potential problems.
2. Be respectful. Do not start with complaints or what you have heard or seen. While this might seem like a way to support your idea, it is nothing more than a distraction.
3. Put it in writing. While you want to sit face-to-face when proposing your idea to administration, it is easy to forget without something in writing. Either type out your ideas ahead of time or take notes during the meeting to polish up later.
4. If possible, gather allies. The more people that support your idea, the easier it is to make it a reality.
5. Follow-Up and Follow-Through. I am not going to say that more work won't be added to your load. If you care about your idea, this shouldn't be a problem. A good idea is like a fire, you need to supply fuel to keep it alive.

Now time to follow my own advice.

New Year, New Possibilities, Even Resolutions

I have to say the New Year celebration is my absolute favorite. Since I was a kid struggling to stay up until midnight, I loved the idea of a New Year. The idea of a clean slate and fresh start is so appealing. 365 unknown days lie ahead and anything bad from the last year just kinda melts away. Even with current personal and professional struggles, I have a huge amount of hope today for what is to come.

The only aspect of the New Year celebration I have never been fond is resolutions. Mainly because they just seem like empty promises that lead to self disappointment. So there are things I want to do in the new year, but not sure that I want to call them resolutions. Yet .....

Juliet:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

So here is my initial list. Just like a real school improvement plan, it should change as the year progresses.

1. To Stay as Positive as Possible! I know every day is not going to be sunshine and kittens, but I know the negative just drags me down.
2. A yearly struggle for me: Try to maintain a balance. I want to have a little more fun in the new year.
3. Push the Limits! I want to keep pushing the boundaries and not give up despite the powers that be.
4. Be More Creative: Whether that is art on my iPad or keeping up with taking pictures each week.
5. Seeking out new opportunities! Some of the best experiences from the past couple of years came from filling out applications and taking a chance.

There it is! Not a lot, but a workable list. Let 2011 be the best year yet!

The Newbie Spirit

I haven't been around here for a while. Not because a lack of topics, ideas are floating in my head all the time. I could blame a lack of time, from the last post I still have all of those duties in my school. Actually my balancing act has been fairly good this year, lots of new lessons learned so far. For some time I just dropped my digital life due to the seriousness of real life. My mother has stage four colon cancer, this is so hard to even type. This has been so difficult, leading a semi-regular life has not been easy. This was not added to gain any sympathy, I am not the one who deserves it, but to show how this lesson was powerful enough to lead me back to blogging.

At the beginning of Winter Break, I dipped my toes back into the Social Networking waters. Of course I got a warm welcome back from my PLN. In one day, I got lots of resources that I still saved to Delicious despite the latest news and a chance to join an iPad tweetup. Lately I feel a sense of guilt of going to any social event, but I also know that I need those moments. I absolutely LOVE my iPad and was excited to meetup with a group of digital divas to discuss apps. While this event was informative, fun, and geeky, I realized something...... I might be a little bit of a tech snob.

One of the reasons I wanted to be a part of this event in the first place was the quality of the company. Donna Anderson (@digilibrarian21), Joquetta Johnson (@accordin2jo), Renee Henderson (@msreneescience), and Gwyneth Jones (@gwyenthjones) are all the amazing "advanced users" in the digital world. I knew we wouldn't waste time with all of the basics! That wasn't true as Gwyneth and Kathy just got their iPads for Christmas. It wasn't annoying going over the basics like taking screenshots, making folders, or enlarging iPhone apps. Why? Because of the true Newbie Spirit.

Being a Newbie isn't a bad term if you have the Newbie Spirit which would include:

• Not being afraid of new technology


• Not being afraid to admit that you only know a little about the topic


• Being truly excited to learn something new


• That positive attitude that says "Anything is Possible!"

As a trainer I need to remember the Newbie and build that spirit even when there is none. In the newbie spirit I will be heading over to Gwyneth's blog to learn about QR codes, something I know little about.

Keep a look out for another post on the Apps shared at our meetup.

Trying to be Wonder Woman

Wow, it has been a while. Not because there was nothing to write about, but the craziness that is the beginning of the school year. While there is a to-do list waiting for me right now, I decided to take a reflection break here.

I loved watching Wonder Woman on TV growing up. It was so cool how she could save the day with her lasso and wrist bands. It didn't matter how big the problem was or the evil doer, she could take them on without breaking a sweat. Plus it was cool to see a strong female superhero.

I realized something last week, I am trying a little to hard to be like Wonder Woman.

If you have read this blog in the past, you know I have a hard time saying "No" if it is something good for the students. So far these are my responsiblities for this school year:

1. Teach 6 sections of Technology Integration each quarter for 4 quarters. My primary job.


2. Meet with 6 TAG groups twice every month for "enrichment" activities. (My idea, but didn't think I would be running it)


3. Run the School Store with student helpers. (my morning duty).


4. My afternoon duty which switches from bus duty and hall duty.


5. Every Thursday I am running a Tech Club (actually excited about that one).


6. Organizing a school-wide Tech Fair/Showcase and GeoBee.


7. Leadership team and School Improvement Plan team


8. Tech Liaison

This list is dangerous. It doesn't even include the piles of little requests that hit my email inbox each week. This means my mind is in contast distracted mode. There is a possiblilty for an emotional breakdown. As my friend Ken Shelton posted on Facebook, work addiction is going to happen.

I am not a superhero. I can't save my school alone. Me doing more is not going to cover those doing nothing. If I was Wonder Woman, I would use my wristbands to get everyone in my building to remember why we teach: the kids.