One of the best things about my job is I get to connect with lots of teachers! At HBUHSD I am so fortunate to work with some of the finest teachers around. Not only that, I've been able to connect with even more teachers on Twitter and when I am teaching the Advanced Instructional Strategies for Virtual Teachers MOOC on Coursera. Through these experiences, I've learned a lot about learning and have seen some amazing things. So here's my five tips to kickstart a healthy, thriving school year.
Be a Self-Developer
This is something I have been discussing with @bryan_davis nschwab recently and I'm actually stealing this from the former CEO of Kroger, David Dillion. David says “The advice I give to individuals in our company is not to expect the company to hand you a development plan. You need to take responsibility for developing yourself.” My takeaway from this is, if this is what is expected at Kroger, how much more should professional educators be expected to develop themselves? So at the beginning of the school year let's ask ourselves and our colleagues this question, take no longer than a week to formulate our answers then share our development plans! How awesomepanda would that be? Here's my self-development plan.
- Get on Twitter each week, I will follow 3 people or one hashtag that I want to learn with closely and interact with them. I will Tweet what I am learning or a question I am thinking about at least once a week.
- Read a non-EDU Book -- slowly This is a way to purposefully break out of the education bubble and bring in fresh perspectives and ideas to my work. I'm a really slow reader though. Really!! Some of this is due to dyslexic letter reversals, but I'd like to think that it is because I'm savoring and digesting the text. Currently I'm reading A More Beautiful Question and The Pause Principle
- Sharpen my Search Skills - try A Google a day or get in the self-paced Inside Search course from Google.
- Share & Learn in the Canvas Community- the community here is amazing because the environment is very well designed and most of all, because we have a lot of wonderful people assembled here. Make time to join in! (Side Tip: if you are a K12 teacher venture over to the Higher Education and Instructional Designers groups and interact!)
- Vizify- improve my visual imagery skills. I'm going to be checking in with my daughter who is taking a visual imagery class this year and I hope to learn along with her and do some projects together!
Go the Extra-Mile
I'm sure you are familiar with the the old adage of going the extra mile. I believe this comes from Matthew 5:41 so I'm stealing this one from Jesus 
. Here are some ways I plan to "go the extra mile this year":
- Please let me know how I can be of further assistance- I have a lot of emails and help tickets that I need to respond to qucikly. Usually I just want to get them out of my inbox so I can move to the next one thinking that if I can magically clear my inbox, I'm going to be on top of the world. It took me a while, but what I've had to remind myself of, is that there are people behind these emails and I need to treat them like VIPs and take advantage of an opportunity to form a relationship. So I am now writing the end of my responses first and trying to let them know how much I value the opportunity to work with them.
- Open Doors- Literally and figuratively look and take any opportunity to open a door for someone, even if it's awkward and inconvenient.
- Workout- @ataylor3 reminded me not to sacrifice healthy habits like exercising. So this is a reminder to me to workout and when I workout I always like to find creative and challenging ways to "go the extra mile" because this is one of the things that energizes me and helps me clear my mind.
- Slide Guides- I love Google Slides and Snagit. Adding these two items together I have been experimenting with making on-demand tutorials & tips I'm calling slide guides. I don't really like making YouTube videos (and I hate watching the ones I've made), but I know it can be helpful for others, so I'm going to make YouTube videos as well and post any applicable ones here in the community. My latest slide guide is Setting Up Your Student Teacher in Canvas, not perfect, but so far so good.
- Wait- I know this one may sound funny given that it's under going the extra-mile, but sometimes my mind is racing in so many different directions that I have to remind myself to slow-down and wait while I am talking and interacting with others.
Think Different
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9cGdRNMdQQ
