Why I Started Blogging

In December of last year I was in desperate search of winter break. I was exhausted and had no clue what I had done from August up to that point. I knew I did some good things but I was so busy that it was hard to remember EVERYTHING. To get back in the groove of things after winter break, I began letting teachers make goals for the second half of the year that I could support them with. Then I thought, I need to make a goal for myself to keep pushing myself as a coach and learner. I knew that I needed some kind of outlet to track my thoughts, things that I had done, and the awesome things that teachers had let me work with them on.

I decided to make my goal to start my own blog. I had no intentions of making my blog public domain (ha). Then one day my tech coach tweeted one of my posts for the world to see! Let's just say I went from 12 views to 412 overnight! If that wasn't motivation to keep posting, I don't know what is!

So here I am some months later with a back to school goal of blogging at least once a week. I've been able to keep up with it so far (only by putting it on my calendar). Many times before I make a new post, I read through what I wrote in the past.

It has been a wonderful experience. Of course I will make another goal in regards to my blog during Christmas break. I'm so excited to see where my blog goes over the next few months.

Working in a tech school, blogging is taking off. We have students who are beginning to blog. Their voices can be shared around the world. That is so inspirational. I'm not quite sure if they know how big that is quite yet, but I can't wait to see where they go with their blogs and share them with the world.

It all started with a need to release my thoughts, a computer, a tech coach who loves Twitter and here I am, an official blogger!

Students as School Leaders #leadershipday13

      Happy Leadership Day! Leadership is so important. Often we look to the teachers and administrators, but there are other leaders in the school that make a huge difference. These other leaders can come in big or small sizes….they are OUR STUDENTS.  So many times WE as educators talk about how wonderful our schools are, but what if our students could take our “talk” away and represent our “talk” daily?  I work in a 1:1 environment at a technology magnet school as an instructional coach. Often times, my work is way bigger than me. Let me share an experience that was way bigger than me.

       Last February, I hosted some of our fifth grade students at a technology conference for students and by students. The teacher and I practiced with them but they made their own handouts, samples, and instructions for their attendees. I had no idea what to expect and neither did the students. We were all extremely nervous. We hopped on a bus on a Saturday and headed to the S.I.T. (Student in Technology) Conference in Bloomington-Normal, IL. The kids got all set up and in walked educators, students, and parents ready to see what our students had to say about creating with iPADS. I so wanted to walk around and give these people background information on our school and these students, but then the unthinkable happened! The students “spoke” for the school. They answered all questions and taught people who had never touched an iPad before how to create a quality iMovie. The teacher, principal, and I didn’t have to say a word. We all looked at each other, smiled, and started snapping as many pictures as possible.

      The moment that I will never forget is when a technology coordinator from another district said, “These kids are wonderful. You need to take them out more. To the school board, to your community, everywhere! They are such good representatives of your school. I can’t believe they are 5^th graders!” That moment gave me chills. I couldn’t be more proud. This wasn’t about taking kids to present at some technology conference; it was much bigger than that. It was about letting students shine as leaders of the school.  Allowing them to show their greatness.

      Those 5^th grade students have presented to their classmates and other classrooms and to our district coordinators and instructional coaches. Every time the message is very clear, students CAN BE and ARE leaders in our schools. We have to let them be. We are growing as our district’s premier technology school. As we grow, we can never forget to grow our students with us. It’s all about them. Let them be the voice of our schools. Let them lead.

Are your students leaders? 

Back to School Goal Making

Today is the big day! It's the first day of school. Today was extra hard for me because my son started Kindergarten. So excited for my little guy's educational journey. I have set goals for him such as bedtime, homework, and dinner time. As I think of him and all of the goals that I have set for him to have a successful school year, I have taken the time to make some goals for myself. I need to do more with my blog, so my goal is to blog at least once a week. I need to keep up with my professional learning, so my goal is to block out some time during the week (we will see how long this one lasts). The BIGGEST goal I have for myself is to be respectful of my OWN time. This year made me really reflect on last year, my first year as an instructional coach. I find it very odd that I really don't remember anything that I did before Christmas break. It was probably because I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to keep up and figure out the world of coaching. So here I am making a goal for better time management. I want to be an effective coach but overworking is just not healthy. Many nights I would crash at 8pm and then wake up 3am to work until it was time to get ready for the day. That was ridiculous! So on the first night before school, I went to bed before 11pm and I didn't wake up!  I know more goals will come along, but for now I'm just shooting for hard work, better blogging, great time management, memories, more time with  my little guy

, success stories, and 8 hours of sleep! What's your goal?