Serendipity

Serendipity is looking for an old favorite and finding a new one!

One of my favorite places to be is in a bookstore.  Living in a rural town, I have to drive half an hour to get to a Half Price Bookstore, and almost an hour to get to a Barnes & Noble.  I recently went in search of a copy of The Rainbow Fish to read to my Third, Fourth, and Fifth graders.  Not finding what I came for, I kept browsing because that is what you do at a bookstore!  Three gems I uncovered that I had never read before!  Milo and the Magical Stones, Sydney's Star, and Serendipity.  This last one fascinated me with its simple pattern and wonderful way of illustrating the glorious happenstance of Serendipity!  I couldn't resist the opportunity for a great vocabulary lesson!

Serendipity is buying a book for a read aloud and being inspired to write a blog post based on the book.

My life is sprinkled with many serendipitous moments.  

My husband and I had tried for two years to start a family.  I was working on my Masters degree while teaching Reading Recovery in a small but growing school district.  The month after I had my diploma in hand, we learned that we finally would be welcoming a little one in few short months.  

While I was teaching Third Grade in another district, I was offered the opportunity to take the Reading Specialist position at another campus.  This campus was in between the Middle School and the High School which my boys were moving to the following year!  My boys would be able to walk to my school when they got out in the afternoons!

Serendipity is winning a door-prize at an Edcamp that has three books that are on my wish list!

I have mentioned before that I was reluctant to becoming a connected educator.  Once I started making connections on Twitter my wish list of books began to grow!  I also learned about events called Edcamps that I quickly became addicted to!  I attended my first few edcamps with a coworker, but soon began to branch out on my own.  One summer edcamp yielded me a great door-prize of a tub stuffed with t-shirts, books, and more.  One of the books I received was The Four O'Clock Faculty by Rich Czyz; a book that I couldn't wait to read!

Serendipity is joining a Voxer book study and finding my tribe!

In amongst all the people I had connected with on Twitter was a PE teacher in NJ who was going to start a Voxer book study on The Four O'Clock Faculty.  I had already given Voxer a try and was following the #leadupchat group on that platform.  A book study sounded like a great way to go deeper and get more out of the book.  I told @mlarson_nj to sign me up!  

That was back in January of this year.  The book study lasted one month, but this group is still going!  We talk to each other daily, encouraging, challenging, informing, questioning, pushing, and asking for help.  We talk about education, challenging the status quo, families, weather, fitness, food, jobs, and any multitude of other things.  We have challenged each other to blog, started our own hashtag #4OCFpln, participated in and hosted Twitter chats, and have been interviewed on a podcast.  We have a photo shopped selfie which we take to conferences to get pictures with of some of our Edu heroes.  We have had meet ups with our PLN members all over the country.  Plans are in the works to meet up at the next ISTE.  We have all grown as a result of being with this group.  

"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."  This is one of the sharpest groups I have ever known!  I am proud to be a member of this wonderful PLN family! 

A Little Extra Push

     Most people have that someone in their life that pushes them.  Pushes them out of their comfort zone.  Pushes them to get uncomfortable.  Pushes them to try new things.  Pushing may seem a little rude or forward, but that little extra push can make a huge impact on your life and the lives of your students.

     I have had that influence in my life that has helped me to learn and grow as an educator.  I have become a connected educator by joining Twitter, because of a little push.  I have attended edcamps I learned about on Twitter, and eventually facilitated a few sessions at different edcamps.  I have started a blog and added to my Amazon reading wishlist.  I have joined a life changing Voxer group that challenges my thinking every day (#4OCFpln).  I have presented PD sessions in my district as part of a team and eventually independently.  I have even presented outside of my district at a Technology Conference when I don't even consider myself particularly "techy".

     I mention all of these things not to praise my own accomplishments, but to illustrate what the power of a little loving push in the right direction can do.  If you have that someone in your circle of influence, learn all you can from them!  If you don't, then seek one out, or better yet, seek to be that person of influence in someone else's life.

     "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."

     "Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor."

     "A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart."

     Let's join together in helping each other to be the best we can be for our students.  Challenging, questioning, sharing, and yes, Pushing!

My #OneWord2018

One year ago today is when my blogging journey began when I posted about my first #oneword. Was I prolific?  Not by any means.  I journaled some to get my thoughts down, but few things made it to post.  Was I a failure?  No.  I grew.  I spent more time reflecting on my classroom and teaching than I had in a long time.

My #OneWord2017 was REACH, and that was what I did.  

I reached for reflection as I sought to become a better teacher.

I reached out to expand my PLN in order to learn from them.

I reached beyond my comfort zone and sought new learning through books, #edcamps, Voxer, and online training.

I continued reaching beyond my comfort zone to share my learning with others by facilitating my first session in an #edcamp, as well as offering after school training on #Flipgrid, Twitter, and Twitter Chats.

I would love to say that the teachers that sat in my training became as passionate as I am, but that was not evident.  I was reminded of something that I learned during my teacher training as I finished reading The Innovator's Mindset.  I love the way that George Couros put it:

     "If we want meaningful change, we have to make a connection to the 
     heart before we can make a connection to the mind."

I would love to be part of the spark that starts a meaningful change, not only in my students' lives, but my colleagues, as well.  

I am going to focus on that connection to the heart this year.  My #OneWord2018 is #Relationships.

God's Word teaches us about our relationship with God and others in Matthew 22:37-39.

     "And He said to him, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your
     heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
     This is the great and foremost commandment.
     The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Building relationships through love is the key.  My relationships with God, my family, my church, my friends, my PLN, and my students.

#Relationships is my #OneWord2018. What is your #oneword?

Kimberly