Living in the Moment

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“The moment is everything. Don’t think about tomorrow; don’t think about yesterday: think about exactly what you’re doing right now and live it and dance it and breathe it and be it.” — Wendy Whelan

When I was in undergrad at what was then West Georgia College, I got in the habit of saying, “Happy to be here” when the professor called the roll. I was genuinely happy to be in college in my classes. Maybe not accounting, but for the most part, I enjoyed my time in college. If my dad were alive, he would tell you I had too much fun which is why he financially severed ties with me at the end of my Junior year of college. I was on my own. I was still happy to be there, but working three jobs was hard.

I am a mother now. Some days are hard. The days aren’t hard because my son is difficult. He’s not. He is a typical eleven-year-old boy. He loves video games, anime, martial arts, football, and futbol. What is hard is being present for him when there are nights I would like to sit and watch videos on how to use a new tech tool or work on my blog that has been neglected for too long or reach out on social media and share ideas with my people. I am trying to find that what seems to be that elusive work life balance that so many talk about often. How do you find time to do for your child, yourself, and your job? I have not yet figured it out. I really want to. I have this need to be the best, and I am not feeling like the best right now. Right now I want to learn how to use Unity, Unreal Engine, Vex Robots, and regularly blog. I also want to finish my Google Coaching certification, get our eSports program off the ground, and be mom to the son I spent years praying for, and he’s finally here and is the biggest blessing in my life. I also want to watch movies with my son. He had to read Tuck Everlasting for his summer reading assignment. Of course, we have to watch the movie. I also can’t wait to sit in the stands and cheer for him as he plays football this fall, followed by wrestling season, and then he will start his first season as a soccer player. I want to go to different ice cream shops and eat ice cream. I want to continue our Mother/Son Date Nights and listen to him talk about sixth grade boy/girl drama.

How do I do all of this and live in the moment? I prioritize. I bought a lovely orange journal earlier this year so that I could get back into bullet journaling. I was pretty busy at the end of the year, and I am currently seven weeks post op for rotator cuff surgery. I haven’t yet set up my journal, but I must. I have to so that I can list the things I have to do, want to do, and keep up with Clark’s schedule. Unity, Unreal Engine, robotics, and eSports are my current interests. I am also interested in why there is such a pushback on technology usage in classrooms across the country post COVID. Technology isn’t going anywhere, and our children need to know how to be responsible digital citizens if they are to be college and career ready. Taking technology away from the digital natives is a lot like trying to squeeze toothpaste back into the tube. It’s not possible nor really feasible. Just like I am looking for the work/life balance, we need to find the effective technology use balance for the sake of our students. It can be done. We just have to work together to find a solution.

I think I am so passionate about my new interests is because I know that we can engage our students with these tools AND prepare them for life after high school. I want to be in the moment as we expose our students to new possibilities. I want to be present when they discover that they are capable of doing more than they thought. I want to be present for my son as he learns to navigate middle school at a new school with one former classmate and a friend from his karate studio. All the rest of his elementary friends are going elsewhere for middle school. I want to be present as I navigate my EdS in Instructional Technology Media and Design. I have been in my current position for ten years. I love what I do, but to be honest, I really thought that by now, I would be a building administrator. I have interviewed since 2011 for different positions and did not get a single offer. I decided earlier this year to stop putting myself through the torture and embrace where I am. It hurt to be rejected over and over again. I know I would make a great building administrator, but I can’t make others see what I see. I will be in the moment in the job I have and not worry about what didn’t happen or what may not happen in the future. I have a job. I am good at my job. I have a son. I am a good mother even though I don’t feed him enough vegetables. I am an excellent student (undergrad doesn’t count), and I am a lifelong learner.

My moment is now. I will live each day, cherish each day, learn from each day, and when I put my head down in the recliner (still not able to sleep in my bed because rotator cuff surgery is no joke), I will be able to say that I lived the best possible day for that day. Tomorrow is always another day.

I did AVID training this summer in Orlando. My nephew was kind enough to drive us down there, and we were able to have dinner with Josh and CoCo. They run a non profit that allows first time adoptive families to experience Walt Disney World at no cost. Clark and I were the recipients of a trip in January 22. Adventure Is Out There does so much for so many people.

Wakanda Forever

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I want to make it clear that the black race did not come to the United States culturally empty-handed. The role and importance of ethnic history is in how well it teaches a people to use their own talents, take pride in their own history and love their own memories. — John Henry Clarke

As a child growing up in the 1970s, I often heard the following statement: “You can’t be _____________________________ because you’re Black.” Fill in the statement with President, Miss America, an astronaut, or any number of roles traditionally held by White Americans. Because there had never been a Black President (President Obama was not much older than I was and probably hearing the same things), Vanessa Williams had not yet been crowned Miss America, and the first Black astronaut did not go into space until I was in junior high school in the early 1980s, I did not argue the point. Why would I? The person was right. Black people did not do those things or if they did, I didn’t learn about it in school since Black history generally covered Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King, Jr. I was in college before any history class talked about Malcolm X. I will admit that for a brief time, I wished I was White. I wanted White girl hair, I wanted to date the cute blonde hair, blue eyed boy I had a crush on, and I did not like my big lips.

Eventually I outgrew the ‘I don’t want to be Black phase’ and to some degree, I embraced who I was. Not until I attended a PWI (predominately White institution) did I actively get involved with Black organizations. I joined the campus chapter of the NAACP as well as the Minority Achievement Program. I will admit there are times I wished I had listened to my parents and gone to an HBCU (Historically Black College and University). They wanted me to go to Spelman. I didn’t think I would fit in. I now know I would have fit in better and no doubt, I would have had a different college experience. I don’t regret my decision because going to the college and the various experiences I had there showed me that I was not meant to be a United States Supreme Court Justice but an educator.

It has been six months since I have penned a blog post. It has been six very long months. I unveiled my #GoogleEI project, Ernie’s Mobile STEAM Lab only to have to pack everything up and park the bus because of COVID-19. We have been at home since March 13, 2020. In that time, I finalized the adoption of my son. He is the light of my world and has my whole heart. Clark’s adoption is the biggest and most important thing that has happened in my world, but to most everyone else, okay, definitely everyone else, other major events have taken center stage. Those events have caused me to cry, shake my head in confusion, and raise my hands in frustration. They have caused me to want to take my son in my arms and shield him from the world. The events I speak of are the ones in which Black people, my people, have been killed, beaten, harassed, and blamed for things they didn’t do. In the last several months, I have heard: “I didn’t have slaves, so stop blaming me for racism.” “Racism doesn’t exist.” “Black people wouldn’t get killed by the police if they weren’t doing anything wrong.” “Why are Black people protesting? Shouldn’t they be at work? Oh yeah, they all get welfare.” “Black people are more concerned with police brutality than they are about Black on Black crime.” And my favorite, “I’m not racist. I have a Black friend.”

My blog is entitled Diary of a Not So Mad Instructional Tech Coach. I have yet to mention anything about technology except the brief reference to Ernie’s Mobile STEAM Lab. I am not sharing tech tidbits today. Today I am sharing how I feel about the ongoing racial tensions in this country and how Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of King T’Challa in Black Panther has sparked something in me. Until Black Panther, I had not seen a superhero movie since Christopher Reeve portrayed Superman in 1978. I was intrigued by a Black man portraying a superhero so I went to see Black Panther when it came out. From the opening scene, I was immediately drawn into the characters, the setting, and the plot. For the first time in my life, a Black man was the leading character in a superhero movie. The majority of the cast was Black, and they were not portrayed as slaves nor criminals. They were well-spoken, tech savvy, and proud to be from Wakanda. Yes, it was a movie, but it made me want to go to Wakanda. Wakanda wasn’t perfect. They did have the Jabari tribe who did not fall in line with King T’Challa until they realized they were going to have to unite to defeat their common enemy.

When the death of Chadwick Boseman was announced, I was devastated. No, he wasn’t a personal friend of mine. He was an actor who did a phenomenal job of portraying great Black men – Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and the fictional King T’Challa. King T’Challa and Wakanda resonate with me because I long to be in a place where Black people can be unapologetically Black. I long to be in a place where I don’t have to fear that the crazed customer who threatened bodily harm to my nephew won’t return and make good on his threat. I long to be in a place where my ancestors are celebrated. Heck, I long to be in a place where Black people are technology geniuses. I long for a place like Wakanda. Chadwick Boseman brought a character to life. He ignited a sense of pride in so many children who dressed like him in their Halloween costumes, played with their Black Panther action figures, and had Black Panther birthday parties. The movie ignited a sense of pride in Black people. For him to die at this moment in history when Black people are still marginalized hurts. It hurts because for the two hours and fifteen minutes of the movie, Black people had a place. We had a place where we were the majority. We had place where we celebrated our achievements. We had a place with rich history, traditions, and culture. We had Wakanda.

To quote Jackie Robinson, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Chadwick Boseman made an impact. At this moment, I doubt my impact will be as great as his, but I want to be able to impact the lives of the students and teachers in my district. I want our students of color to have pride in being Black or Brown and to know they can do great things. I want the same for our teachers. It’s hard enough being a teacher. It’s even harder when you are teaching students in the midst of a global pandemic, your students see videos of Black men being gunned down and murdered, and you have students who wonder will there ever be justice for Breonna Taylor. How do you have conversations with your students about those kinds of things when there is so much unrest? I have no answers. I have more questions than answers. What I do have is an appreciation for an incredible actor who brought to life Black royalty. He brought dignity, quiet strength, and an incredible dedication to his craft. He brought us Wakanda. #WakandaForever #Yibambe

Until next time,

#RollingIntoTheFuture

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Simply having a dream isn’t enough.  Taking the steps to fulfill that dream is key.       –Arthur Ashe

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The Dream

Let me preface this post with something my parents told me a lot as a child growing up, “Leslie, you have an overactive imagination.” They were right. I was always dreaming about something. I dreamt I would be a United States Supreme Court Justice. I’m not. I dreamt I would be a mom to six kids. I’m not. I dreamt that I would graduate from college Phi Beta Kappa. I did not, and that story could be another blog post. I did have a dream nearly three years ago. I had a dream to turn a school bus into a mobile STEAM Lab. That dream was to be my way into The Google Innovator Academy. I had submitted applications before and had been denied admittance. I wrote about my experience in a previous blog post. However, after being denied twice and taking a break to reflect and get refreshed, I was finally admitted to the Washington, DC Cohort that met in August 2017. The three days I spent in the DC Google Office were some of the most awe inspiring and life changing days in my entire 50 years of being on this planet. My days at the Innovator Academy can be read about in this blog post.  Finally, the dream is a reality. January 21, 2020, Ernie’s Mobile STEAM Lab had a soft opening at Crescent Elementary School in Griffin, Georgia.

The Making of the Dream

I think Langston Hughes wrote his poem “Harlem” about me. Talk about a dream deferred. I left DC in August of 2017 full of ambition and a desire to see my dream become a reality. My reality was that my dad was in the midst of an aggressive treatment plan for stomach cancer, I had a child in foster care living with me, and my gallbladder had long since stopped working. My dad finished his cancer treatments, my little one left to go home to his mother in November of 2017, and two weeks later, I was in the emergency room having chest pains, dehydrated, and absolutely no potassium in my body. Ten days later, my non functioning gallbladder came out. I spent my Christmas vacation recovering from heartbreak and major surgery. Not a good end to my year.

Because of my experience as a foster parent, I felt called to do something more for children in foster care. While I was mulling possibilities for a change in my project focus, I was told that my district had Title dollars and wanted to support STEAM education in our district. They wanted to give me money to help with my bus project. I would have been stupid to turn that down since I had no real idea how I was going to fully furnish a bus with the latest and greatest tech tools without a large influx of cash. A cash cow had been dropped in my lap. I put my plans for a new project on hold and focused on the bus again.

Lists were made, items were ordered, countless pieces of technology were labeled, and the bus was gutted and renovations began. Then a series of unfortunate events started with no end in sight. In October of 2018, I lost my aunt. She was only 57 and was my mother’s last surviving sibling. She succumbed to breast cancer that metastasized to her brain. Her death took a toll on me. It was hard to focus on the bus project because I had a hard time believing that all of my aunts and uncles I grew up knowing and provided a connection to my mother’s side of the family were gone. I wrapped up 2018 believing that 2019 would be better. It had to be. Nothing could happen to dampen my spirits because I knew the bus would get finished, I was turning 50, and my Department of Family and Children Services caseworker told me she thought she had a child for me who would be free for adoption.

I was wrong. A week before Christmas I was in the emergency room with chest pains. I was diagnosed with Shingles and sent home with medication. A few days after the beginning of the new year, I was in my doctor’s office still having chest pains. I was told I didn’t really have Shingles but a blood clot that was camping out in my lower right lung. Seriously? What else could happen to me? I saw several doctors and began treatment for the blood clot. On February 22, 2019, my sweet boy came to live with me. He had been removed from his previous foster home because he needed permanency, and the previous foster parents were not interested in adoption. As we were getting to know one another and trying to decide if he wanted to be adopted by me, we had a few medical issues that needed to be addressed for him. He was born with damage to his auditory nerves. As we made plans to get tubes in his ears so he could get new hearing aids, I was preparing to turn 50. I had grand plans to celebrate. I celebrated at home because I had the flu. I had been working on getting the bus ready so it could be used for summer school. Work wasn’t getting done while I was home in bed. Two days later, my little one got tubes in his ears. That was a special day because his hearing without the tubes was almost non existent. He was a totally different young man. He still could not hear everything, but his hearing was better than when he first came to live with me. On April 15, 2019 my dad told me that his cancer had returned and he was dying.  He had previously battled and beat cancer two years prior. Talk about a kick in stomach. I tried to juggle being a mother, a daughter to a terminally ill parent, and a project manager. I failed miserably at everything. I left the bus undone so I could spend time with my father as he prepared to leave this Earth. On June 4, 2019 my dad lost his battle with cancer. I will be honest. I didn’t care about the bus. I tried, but I couldn’t. I knew I should work on it during the summer so it would be ready when school began, but my heart was hurting, and I was lost.

Yes, I just said my heart was hurting, and I was lost. However, I had to figure out how to manage my grief and get my work done. Title funds were used to pay for the technology.  I had people to answer to and data to collect.  When school started that fall, I again picked up the bus project. Obstacles came and were dealt with accordingly. Thankfully I work with a wonderful group of technicians who came to my rescue. They painted, installed technology, kept a fire lit under me, and helped me to make my dream a reality.

A Dream Realized

January 22, 2020 saw students board the bus for the very first time. Was the soft opening a grand success? Depends on how you look at things. We discovered that Chromebooks do not work when they sit on a bus overnight and the temperature drops to 21 degrees Fahrenheit. As a matter of fact, most of the technology didn’t work for the very first class. I dare say the children didn’t really work, either because they were cold as well. We made a quick change in plans and moved the activities inside the school. The students were able to spend a few minutes outside touring the bus and watching Bubba, the Mavic 2 Pro Drone, fly in the friendly skies near the school. We had the Dremel 3D printer making a Baby Yoda the first day and a frog the next. They then came inside and created their own video games using Bloxels. They also explored the deep sea courtesy of Google Expeditions. Our younger learners created cars with the Lego Early Simple Machines Kit as well as a variety of structures using Magnatiles. Yes, things didn’t go as planned, but the students were excited, engaged, and eager for Ernie’s Mobile STEAM Lab to return to their school.

I would say the week was a success. This morning I opened the Google Form for other schools to bring Ernie’s Mobile STEAM Lab to their students. By the end of the day, ten of the schools in our district booked appointments!

If you would like to know more about Ernie’s Mobile STEAM Lab, please visit our website.

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Happy students!

 

This project was to honor my mom’s legacy. I think she would be proud. By the way, my sweet boy decided he wanted my home to be his forever home. The petition to adopt him was sent to Superior Court today. We are just waiting for the final adoption hearing to take place, and he will #FinallyBeAFagin. A bus and a son. I’d say this year is most definitely starting off better than last year. I can’t wait to see what happens next. My #OneWord for 2020 is #Bloom.

Until next time…

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Step Right Up

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There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.   — William Frederick Halsey, Jr.

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Life has a way of putting you in your place. Just when you think you are on top of the world, in my experience at least, your world usually comes crashing down. Mine did earlier this year. Each year I choose my #OneWord. This year my word is #Intentional. I had this elaborate plan of how I was going to be intentional in my personal and professional life. I decided that since I was turning 50, this would be my year. Because this is a blog, I have shared a lot about my personal as well as work life. I share the good and the bad because although this is my outlet for my work life; my work life is intertwined with my personal life. My plan of being intentional ground to a screeching halt April 15, 2019. Five days earlier I turned 50. I was at home in the bed with the flu. Not the way I planned to spend my birthday. Again, I had an elaborate plan of how I was going to spend 2019. I had mapped out the remaining eight states I needed to see to accomplish my #50By50. My hematologist and cardiologist both told me I would not be flying to Alaska to see the Northern Lights since I have a pulmonary embolism. That was unknown to me until my continual chest pains drove me to the local emergency room and subsequently my primary care doctor in January who diagnosed the PE. Thankfully, I found out earlier this week that the embolism is gone; however, I found out in April that my father was dying. His cancer had returned, and this time it was terminal. Part of that was his choice because the treatment the first time was devastating to his body and also, there really was nothing left of his stomach to treat. The cancer had eaten the remaining portion that was left after the initial surgery in 2017. I spent most of April and May traveling back and forth from my home in Georgia to be with him in Chattanooga. We lost our father, the leader of our family on June 4th. All of my plans for my #GoogleInnovator project were on hold. The completion of my first solo book for EduMatch Publishing was on hold. I didn’t even want to go to ISTE although I had been selected to share a TED Ed talk as part of my participation in the TED Masterclass partnership with ISTE and TED Ed.  The conclusion of ISTE19 also meant the beginning of my term as president of the ISTE Edtech Coaches PLN. I had to be there.

Talk about a challenging year. To be frank. I was lost. I couldn’t focus. I had no desire to do much of anything, and I missed my dad something awful. I wrote a little, but it made no sense. I did a little work on the bus project, but the bus still sits at the bus yard unfinished. For the girl who said she was going to be intentional, I was not at all who I wanted to be. Then I got a phone call. My dad was a career soldier. In 1971 we met Dan and Priscilla Daniels and their daughter Carla. Their son David was born while we were stationed in Turkey a few years later. Only because I know she won’t read this blog, am I calling her Priscilla. Fifty year old Leslie knows better. She is still Mrs. Daniels. Her husband was MSG. Daniels, but we just called him Mr. Daniels. Our families remained friends throughout many changes in duty stations. Mr. Daniels passed away in 1991, and my mother passed away in 2001 (today is the anniversary of her death). Our families are still close. Mrs. Daniels called me to check on me after my dad died. My heart was hurting, but hearing her voice provided just the right amount of comfort I needed at that moment. We chatted for a while, and she said something to me that reminded me that I am the daughter of L.C. Fagin, Jr. and Ernestine H. Fagin. They didn’t raise us to wallow nor to be quitters. She told me that whenever she and my dad spoke, she would ask about the three of us – my older sister and younger brother. He generally gave the same response when talking about me. He would say, “Leslie is fine. She is handling her business the way she always does, and she is always trying to go the extra mile in everything.” I needed to hear her tell me that. I needed a kick in the pants because I was wallowing, and I was not handling business.

I took the rest of my time off (watching your dad die is not really a vacation thing so I won’t call this time off a vacation) to get myself together. I have a seven year old that will be my son one day. I am adopting him just as soon as he is legally free. He keeps me busy which is most definitely needed and appreciated. I have to get busy with the book.2019-07-20_0-55-42

 The story being told in the book was the spark behind my TED Ed Talk at #ISTE19. My talk was entitled, Let’s Talk about Race, Baby!  The book will pick up where my talk left off as well as address issues my parents faced growing up in the segregated South. I will also discuss how race and politics are deeply entrenched in American schools across the country. Ernie’s Mobile STEAM Lab is close to completion. All that is supposed to be on the bus is here.  I am waiting to get air conditioning in the bus as well as finish painting and installing the floors and countertops.  Once those things are done, it will not take any time to get the technology on the bus, and the bus in motion engaging students. In my personal life, I have been a volunteer for the Flint River Council Boy Scouts of America for 20+ years.  My oldest nephew is an Eagle Scout, my current #FosterLove earned his Tiger rank in May, and my former #FosterLove will be a Boy Scout when school starts. The plan is for me to be the Scoutmaster of the new troop we are chartering. In addition, I have been working to get a troop for girls started in our district. Both projects were put on hold because of the turmoil in my life.

Why the push to get back on track? Several reasons actually. First, I am a Fagin. As an Army Brat, I know that the mission must always be completed. We don’t quit. No matter how hard things get, we don’t quit. I have projects that I started, so I must finish them. The book is for my father. He was a career soldier who quit school at age 12. He joined the Army and was denied the opportunity to get off a bus in rural Arkansas because he was Black. He joined the Army voluntarily knowing he would go to Vietnam and may not make it home. He was willing to die for the very country that denied him the opportunity to get nourishment because of the color of his skin. The bus is for my mother. She dedicated her life to providing for children first as our mother, as a PTA volunteer, a team mom, Scout leader, Vacation Bible School teacher, and founder of a co-ed mentoring program for the children of Orrs Elementary School – the first in our district. I have to honor their memories. Second, I have a job as an instructional technology coach. There are students and teachers who are counting on me to share my knowledge with them so that they can become college and career ready future ready learners.

On Wednesday and Thursday of this past week, we had our annual retreat for district administrators. The theme was Step Right Up. I committed to step right up to the challenge of doing my job with all the passion I have for educating children and assisting teachers. Each attendee was given a challenge coin. We are to keep the coin on our desk to remind us of the task ahead. I was moved by the thoughts behind the challenge coins. The giving and receiving of challenge coins started in the military. I am a proud Army Brat. I just lost my dad, a veteran of the United States Army. He is buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery alongside his brothers and sisters in arms. The coin will remind me why I became an educator, and it will also remind me whose daughter I am. I am a Fagin. I have a mission to do, and I must not stop until the mission is complete. I am #Intentional. I am #Passionate about instructional technology. I am #Committed to finishing my bus, book, and the formation of two new Scouts BSA troops. Most importantly, I am stepping right up to mother my soon to be forever son.

To the students in my district, I am here. To the teachers in my district, I am here. To the 4,700+ members of the ISTE Edtech Coaches PLN, I am here.  To my parents, thank you for getting me here. To my son, I am and always will be here. I will #StepRightUp.

Until next time,

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If I Were a Wizard

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The programmers of tomorrow are the wizards of the future. –Gabe Newell

 

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I have been a day dreamer for as long as I can remember. I spent a lot of time as a child dreaming about far away places I’d like to visit, creations I’d like to invent, and people I wanted to emulate. Part of why I was such a day dreamer was because I was an avid reader. I picked up a book and began reading at age 4 and haven’t stopped since. As a child, my mother would have to force me to put down my book and go outside to play. I ruined many a library a book because I often dropped them in the tub. Yes, I read in the bathtub. I read all the time – at school when I should have been working, at church when I should have been listening to the sermon, and even in the bed when I should have been sleeping. Reading is my escape, and I never want to lose that.

This past Friday I had the opportunity to read If I Were a Wizard to two fifth grade classes at Crescent Elementary School in Griffin, Georgia. It was World Read Aloud Day, and I was so excited to be able to share my love of reading with students in our district. I had two copies of Paul Hamilton’s book (I’m not sure why I bought two) so I decided I would read his book to the students. It was the perfect choice although to me it was just a random decision. I had not read the book before, but I realized I was instantly in love with the message not long after I began reading to the first class. If you have not read the book before, I do not want to spoil the plot although I will have to tell you enough to get my point across. The plot of the book is that a teacher asks her class the usual question of, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The underlying concept is to teach children about coding, but the point of my post is not about coding. Of course she received the usual responses such as a doctor, lawyer, football player, and such. One young man, Ralph, responded with, “I want to be a wizard!” He goes on to tell of the things he would do as a wizard. His wizardry was not the usual hocus pocus type, but more along the lines of helping people to make their lives easier, better, and meaningful. After I finished reading the book, the students and I had a conversation about theme, helping others, and following our dreams. I read the book to the second class and went back to my office with a lot to think about all because of this children’s book.

Part of my deep self-reflection came from the experience reading to our students and part came from the training I attended/coordinated the day before. A number of years ago, I became aware of sketchnoting and saw the wonderful work by many educators including Sylvia Duckworth.  I was fascinated and wanted to try my hand at creating works like hers and many others. I did a significant amount of research (Internet stalking) and found out all I could about how Sylvia sketchnotes (her tools, methods, and anything else I could find). I quickly went out and purchased an iPad and downloaded Procreate. I’ve played around with it and tried to teach myself. I was not quite successful in teaching myself. I kept seeing sketchnotes on social media, at #ISTE, and this year at GaETC, the conference committee had sketchnoters create sketchnotes of the spotlight sessions. I knew that our teachers and students would benefit from learning the art. Many of our students are visual learners, and as educators, we know that we have to meet our students where they are. Teaching them how to connect words, symbols, and images to the content would surely help them retain the information being shared in class. Not only that, but engaging them in creating their own sketchnotes would give those students who are doodlers something to do that is productive and meaningful. Through some luck and  a partnership with our Federal Programs Director, I was able to secure some Title funding to bring Sylvia to our district. Her sessions put a fire into the participants. I’ve never seen anything like it. All day long, our participants were Tweeting,  Facebooking, and talking about how they could implement sketchnoting in their classes. One of my colleagues who attended shared her knowledge with her nine-year old son. He was instantly intrigued by the thought of being able to draw his thoughts and use them to study what his teachers shared in class. That very night, he was practicing what his mother taught him. He even tried to “permanently borrow” her copy of Sylvia’s book. I was able to give him a copy of his own, and he made his mother take him to the store to get his own sketchnoting supplies.

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Friday morning, another participant shared a picture with me via social media. She was already teaching her students how to use sketchnoting. She is a speech language pathologists and is always looking for new ways to engage her students. When I tell you, she was on fire after leaving the training, she was on FIRE!!! Here’s a quick video of her reaction after being trained by Sylvia.

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Photo Credit: @RobinHarris417

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Photo Credit: @RobinHarris417

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I think that although our teachers received a superb training and excellent tools to engage their students, and two classes of fifth grade students had the opportunity to hear a life affirming story, I received confirmation that although sometimes we expect things to go one way, they go the way they are supposed to. I never thought of myself as a wizard, but I am. I help people (teachers and students) find their way and give them the tools to be successful. This past week is the week I needed. I have applied on several different occasions to become an assistant principal. This last time I applied, I did not get an interview. That was like a punch in the gut. I felt like I was ready and would be an asset to any school in our district. I let the rejection bother me for a while. It’s not anymore. I am where I am supposed to be at this time in my career. Will I be an assistant principal later? Who knows? Will I still have the ability to be a wizard and impact lives? Of course. However, at this moment in my career and my life, I am doing what matters. I am making magic for the most important people in our district – our teachers and students. Is there anything more important? What I do know is that I am a wizard and the teachers and students will continue to get the very best wizard that they deserve.

 

Until next time…

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#Resilient and #Successful

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She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.

Elizabeth Edwards

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At the beginning of 2018, I wrote about my #OneWord for the year. I chose #resilient as my word. I chose resilient because 2017 was a tough one for me personally, and I felt that my personal life was affecting my professional life. No, I did not lose my job or anything like that, but the things that happened outside of the office didn’t distract me so much as they frustrated me because I did not feel that I had control of my life. Too much was going on, and I did not want to wallow in a pool of self pity nor did I not want to achieve the goals I had set for myself professionally. I was made of stronger stuff than that. I come from ‘good people’ as we like to say in Georgia. So I decided that I would take a look at what happened in 2017 and move beyond it in 2018.

Now that I am just hours away from beginning 2019, I can say that my #OneWord was a very good choice. I was resilient. Things happened. I dealt with them and moved on. Most of the time. I am not perfect, so I am not going to pretend that I handled all situations in the best possible manner. Not always, but I did eventually move on. I recovered from my gallbladder surgery. Having it out meant a change in my diet, but I feel much better than I have in years, and I don’t necessarily miss the things I can no longer eat. My family suffered the loss of my mother’s last sibling in October. My Aunt was only 57 when she succumbed breast cancer. Losing her was hard for many reasons. She was only seven years older than I am. She was my mother’s last sibling. She was my fellow softball coach, Girl Scout Troop Leader, and travel companion. When I first graduated from college, we spent a lot of time together. I didn’t have a job, and she was always up for going somewhere or doing something. I lived with her and her daughter briefly after I finished graduate school and began my teaching career. There are days that I still can’t believe she is gone.

The young man who came to live with me in 2017 for 235 days went home. When he left, I believed that I had seen the last of him. Thankfully, he is once again part of my life. His mother lets him call, come over, and continue to participate in Cub Scouts every week. I am still waiting for my forever child. The little one tells me that he will be around to play with my child and has already made plans to go to Disney World with us once the adoption is finalized. I never would have believed such a thing this time last year. However, I promised myself that I would let things happen according to God’s will, and this appears to be His will.

My work projects for 2018 are being carried over to 2019. The mobile STEAM bus I mentioned previously is still in progress. It should be on the road in the next month or so. I can’t wait to see our students in our district actively engaged in learning. The bus will be the culmination of a seventeen year dream to have something that honors the memory of my mother. She devoted herself to a life of service for the children in whatever community we happened to be in at the time. Unfortunately, she lost a battle with cancer in 2001. I want to continue her legacy, and this bus is just part of a bigger plan. My first solo book will be out sometime this year. I am blessed to be part of the EduMatch Publishing family. I say first because it is my intention to write many books. There is an English teacher still inside me who longs to get words on paper and books in the hands of students.

Looking ahead…

  1. Turning 50 this year is a big deal for me. I have a plan to see all 50 States before the end of the calendar year. There are only 8 left on my list. Not sure how to make it happen, but since I have a degree in planning, I’m sure I can figure it out.
  2. #BringingBubbaHome is still at the forefront of all I do. I want to be a mother and will continue with my plans to adopt a child from foster care. My village is praying for me, and my caseworker is taking great care to make sure the right child ends up in my home. I look forward to the day I can be a mom and everything that comes with it.
  3. My book. It’s being worked on, and I am excited to see the finished product. This will be a dream come true for many reasons. I have a story to tell, and I also want to start and/or continue a conversation about educating children of color. I have a voice, a story, and an obligation to share both with the world.
  4. ISTE 2019. The conference is returning to Philadelphia which is exciting to me for a few reasons. ISTE 2015 was the first BIG edtech conference in which I was a presenter. I got out of my comfort zone and connected with educators from around the world. This year’s conference will mean that I have begun my term as the ISTE Edtech Coaches Professional Learning Network President. At the conclusion of the conference, I will spend the next year working with a phenomenal group of edtech coaches on the leadership team as well as the thousands of educators from around the world. I have learned so much from these educators and can’t wait to continue the work that has been happening for many years.
  5. #FaginatorTech will continue to be who I am on a daily basis. I have a job that I love as an instructional technology coach. I get to work with the hardest working teachers who provide love, guidance, and so many opportunities for the students in our district. There are so many things that I want to learn more about, so of course, I am making my list of new tech tools to learn for the year. I have to stay on top of my game. I’m okay with that. I am a lifelong learner and do not plan on stopping the learning anytime soon.
  6. The Unknown. Other things may come up. Who knows. I am a Girl Scout and a Boy Scout. I know how to ‘Be Prepared’. Whatever comes my way in 2019, I will be #Intentional about it. I will love, speak, and live with intention.

Until next time…

 

#OneWord 2018

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Embrace failure. Missteps and roadblocks are inevitable but are ultimately an opportunity to learn, pivot, and go after your goals with a new perspective. –Jenny Fleiss

2017 was a hard year for me, and I am hoping that 2018 is a whole lot better. On January 5, 2017 I had a colonoscopy because I was having GI problems, and although my primary care doctor was certain my gallbladder was not functioning, the surgeon refused to take it out until I got the colonoscopy. I had that and an endoscopy performed on the same day.  Some polyps were removed, and I was told to come back in a few weeks to get the results. That was a Thursday. The following Monday I received word that my father who was vacationing in Hawaii had a bleeding mass in his stomach. By the end of the day, we had confirmation that he had stomach cancer. Wow! What a way to start the year. On January 30, I spent eleven hours at Parkridge Hospital in Chattanooga while my dad had 2/3 of his stomach removed. About a month later, he began an aggressive treatment plan that included several rounds of chemotherapy, several rounds of daily radiation and chemotherapy treatments, and more rounds of chemotherapy. He lost nearly 100 pounds during his battle, but thank goodness he is cancer free.

I don’t think that I have ever addressed my childlessness in this blog, but I cannot have children. In 2016, I started the process of becoming a foster parent. State agencies move as fast as pond water, so it took a long time for me to get approved. I got approved right as my dad began his treatments. I decided that I could not devote my attention to my dad and a foster child so I told the agency to put me on hold. That wasn’t a good idea because I was imagining the worst possible outcome for my dad and was driving myself crazy. I realized I needed somebody to take care of so I wouldn’t continue to worry about my dad. On March 27th I got a call asking if I could provide a home for an 8-year-old boy. I immediately said yes. That was the best decision I could have made for myself. My dad was getting the care he needed, and I had someone who needed my attention. For 235 days, I had the opportunity to provide a loving, nurturing home to a child in foster care. While he was with me, we discovered he had some medical issues that needed to be addressed. We did, and then I turned my attention to my own care. Remember the bad gallbladder?  It had progressively gotten worse, so I made plans to have it taken out right after the new year. I didn’t want my foster son to have a crappy holiday season because I was recuperating from surgery.  I had my plan and expected everything would be fine. Not so.  He left right before Thanksgiving. To say that I was devastated is an understatement.  Two weeks later, I was in the back of an ambulance on my way to the emergency room thinking I was having a heart attack. I wasn’t. I was dehydrated, my potassium level was pretty close to non-existent, and my gallbladder had just given up on me. I spent the weekend in the hospital and decided that since the little one was no longer with me, I would move the surgery up. My gallbladder came out on December 13th.  I spent the Christmas holidays recovering although that is not what I wanted.

Don’t get me wrong. Personally, I don’t want a repeat of 2017 because I feel like I couldn’t get my feet on firm ground. Professionally, things weren’t so bad. I did not accomplish everything that I wanted to, but in retrospect, I think I had my hands full. At the beginning of the year, the book I co-authored with 19 other phenomenal educators came out on Amazon. To see my name on the cover of #EduMatch: Snapshot in Education 2016 was a dream come true. In April, I was named the ISTE Edtech Coaches PLN Award Winner for 2017, and in June, after two failed attempts, I was accepted into the Google Innovator Academy as part of the #WDC17 cohort. Getting that email was definitely the high point of my year.

Too many heart wrenching things going on personally. Great things going on professionally. I just couldn’t figure out how to mesh my personal and professional lives. I have been at home since December 13th with lots of time to think. I still don’t have all the answers, but I do know this: I did not accomplish all that I set out to accomplish in 2017, but I will in 2018. How do I know this? I know because I come from a long line of strong people, and we are resilient.  Things were shaky last year for me. That’s not the case in 2018.  What I didn’t do in 2017 will get done in 2018. What will get done in 2018, you ask:

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Ernie’s STEAM-tastic Mobile School Bus

This is my Google Innovator Project.  My intention is to renovate a school bus and turn it into a mobile STEAM lab that will travel around our district providing hands on learning for our students and professional development for our teachers. I have a lot of work to do, but I look forward to the challenge.

 

 

edumatch publishing As yet to be determined book penned by Leslie R. Fagin 

I have met with my publisher and should have had the first draft of my book done in September. That didn’t happen. I am thinking of changing my initial idea so that I can write about something a little closer to my heart. My publisher and I will be meeting again in a few weeks to discuss the direction of my book.

 

The completion of my Google Innovator project and my first solo novel will not be the only things I work on during this year. I am on the leadership team for two of the ISTE PLNs – the Digital Storytelling Network and the Edtech Coaches Network. Both PLNs have a lot planned, and I anticipate being very busy. The Edtech Coaches Network is kicking off a book study via Twitter in just a few weeks, and I will moderate several days of the book study. Of course, since I am heavily involved with two PLNs, I will be at the conference in Chicago this June. I love going to ISTE because I am able to make connections, renew acquaintances, and gain so much new knowledge. I must admit though, ISTE 18 will be a little different for me this year. Not since ISTE 14 have I not been a presenter. I was brand spanking new to my job when I attended ISTE in Atlanta. Since then, I submitted proposals for the conference, and presented in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Antonio. In addition, I worked in PLN playgrounds and was a conference volunteer. I was worn out when I came home from San Antonio.  My fellow coach and I asked our boss if we could attend and not present. Thankfully, he agreed. I am looking forward to being able to attend more sessions and actually play in the playgrounds.

In February, I hope to be presenting at the EdTechTeam Southern Summit. I submitted two proposals and hope to hear any day whether or not they were accepted. I love attending their summits because I get to see so many wonderful educators sharing tons of Google goodness.  Our district is moving towards blended learning, so Robin and I will be in Rhode Island at the Blended Learning Conference in April.

So, for Leslie Fagin, AKA The Faginator, my #OneWord is #resilient.  I will bounce back from all that I dealt with last year and keep moving forward. I have to. In an earlier post, I was excited that I was chosen to be a Google Innovator. That means I have a project to finish. I have a book to write. I have teachers to learn with, from, inspire, and collaborate with for the benefit of our students.  We tell our kids to keep pushing through. I have to do the same.

 

 

 

Until Next Time,

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It Takes a Village

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Only through our connectedness to others can we really know and enhance the self.  And only through working on the self can we begin to enhance our connectedness to others. –Harriet Goldhor Lerner

20171014_151548_1508009810642It has been 44 days since I stopped being a mother. It has been 44 of the longest and hardest days of my life. Until November 18, 2017, I was a foster parent to a funny, intelligent, curious, precious, and loving 9-year-old boy. On November 17th, the Juvenile Court judge decided he and his siblings could return to their mother. He had been with me for 235 days.  I was totally unprepared and devastated at the thought of no longer having him at home with me. We had gotten into a routine, and I liked that routine. As a matter of fact, I LOVED our routine. I’m not a morning person, but I enjoyed waking him up every day, helping him make his bed, giving him his lunch box, and then our short ride to drop him off at school. I would continue on to work, and then at the end of the day, I would return to the school to pick him up from the after school program. We would go home, he’d ask for a snack even though he had one in the after school program. I would check his agenda, and he would begin working on homework or finishing up what had not been completed in after school. I would cook dinner, and we would sit down at the table together and talk. We talked about all sorts of things and got to know the sweet little boy who captured my heart within the first month of living in my home. After dinner, he would do Prodigy Math or something similar, read for 30 minutes, and then he had time for a little TV.  There were a lot of nights he chose not to watch TV or he would bring his book into my room and sit beside me on my bed and read to me. Before bed, he would shower, and then we would begin our bedtime ritual. Some nights, he would turn back his covers and then come tell me that the Flash had done it. Other nights, I would do it and then lay out the devotion book and Bible we would read from every night. Some nights, we both would read, and other nights I would read, and he would listen. We would take turns praying, talk a little more, and then he would quickly drift off to sleep. On Tuesday nights, we would go to Cub Scouts which he loved! He wasn’t so sure after the first meeting he attended, but he quickly fell in love with spending time with the other boys, his Den Leader, and learning new things. We even went on his first camping trip together.  Weekends were different. Every Saturday I took him to his aunt’s house so he could visit his siblings and his mother. He would come home Saturday evening, we would eat, and then we might play a game or he might watch TV. It just depended on what he wanted to do. Now, I do none of that because he is home with his family.

This post is not about being a foster parent. This post is about what teachers can do to help the children in foster care.  I am an instructional technology coach who just happened to feel called to be a foster parent. I did, and in doing so, I learned an awful lot about the foster care system, and how much the children in care need caring adults to stand in the gap while they are away from their families. These children often move from school to school for whatever reason. When that happens, they often miss instruction because no two teachers are teaching the content the exact same way at the exact same time. When they miss instruction in one school because they are moved to a different school, a learning gap begins to grow and it continues each time they change schools. How often do we stop to think about what is going on with the children in our classes?  How often do we assume that they just don’t know the content and keep moving on figuring they will catch up? They don’t catch up unless someone takes time to stop and teach them what they are missing.  How often do we assume the child doesn’t know the content because they didn’t pay attention in class the previous year? There is a lot we don’t know about the children in our classrooms, and I know that teachers are already working harder than most others, but we cannot afford to let these kids slip through the cracks. They deserve our love and attention in our classrooms just like they need love and attention in their foster homes.

Think about it this way, if these children are not getting the love, nourishment, support, and encouragement at home, where will they get it and what implications does that have on the learning that will take place in your classroom. Foster children often do not want their classmates to know they are in foster care. They feel embarrassed or ashamed because they sometimes think it’s their fault they are in the system in the first place. They also don’t want to be seen as different.  As teachers, we can do something to help them feel less self-conscious about their living situation. If you have a foster child in your classroom, unless they tell their classmates, you should not. It’s not your place.  For some foster children, unfortunately money is an issue because their foster parents are not going to give them money for field trips, book fairs, or anything extra. The state does not do an adequate job of providing financial support for foster parents, so there will be foster children who cannot afford to participate in everything that the class does nor will they be able to bring in goodies for parties.  Don’t make a big deal about what they can’t bring to school. Instead make a big deal about what they offer to the class. Give them positive reinforcement as often as possible.  Hug on them and let them know they matter. However, respect their space. If a child has been abused, they may not trust everyone, and it will take time for them to trust you.  Work with their foster parent, the counselor at your school, and anyone else who can help the child.  Although the child is only in your class for 8 hours a day and may not stay with you the entire school year, they need your love and support every day that they are with you.  My biggest takeaway from being a foster parent is this: treat your foster child just like you would treat your own child. They need normalcy, love, and stability. As trite as it may sound, it really does take a village to raise the children in our classrooms.

 

Ms. Fagin Went to Washington, Part II

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Since new developments are the products of a creative mind, we must therefore stimulate and encourage that type of mind in every way possible. –George Washington Carver

I was chosen. Yes. Me. I was chosen. I was chosen to join 36 other educators to go to the mountaintop.  That mountaintop was located on the 9th floor of a nondescript building at 25 Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C.  I had already received an email message telling me that I would be part of the #WDC17 Google Innovator Cohort in June, but to be sitting in a room with the very same people who received the very same congratulatory email message was inspiring.  As a matter of fact, to hear, “We chose you.” from the people in charge of the program sent chills up my spine the very day they said it and still does today.

I am going to digress for a moment. I have mentioned before, I am a middle child. I don’t know how any other middle child feels, but this one feels like there is absolutely nothing special about being the middle child. I wasn’t the first, and I wasn’t the last. I don’t have children, and they each have a son and a daughter.  My grades were better than that of my brother and sister. I graduated from college before both of them and received my Master’s degree before they did, yet I have never felt special. I didn’t feel special the year I was selected Teacher of the Year in 2010 at the school I worked at which also happened to be my alma mater. I think it didn’t help that the principal said that from that point on, meaning after I was TOTY, it would mean something to be Teacher of the Year. It would no longer be a popularity contest, but a testament to the contributions the teacher made to the overall educational setting of the school. Wow? Really? However, for that moment in that room at the Washington, D.C. Google Office, I felt special. I was chosen out of the millions of people who applied (yes, slight exaggerations). Me. Leslie Renee Fagin was chosen to be part of a program that no doubt is going to stretch and push me more than any other thing in my professional career. That’s okay. I am up to the challenge. I hope. I do have some doubts from time to time about how I am going to turn a fully functioning school bus into a mobile STEM or STEAM lab, I am not quite sure, but I do know that I have a support group that stretches across the United States and Canada. For the three days that we were at Google, we talked, laughed, and grew together as a group. We shared our projects, our passions, our challenges, and offered solutions to one another. We shared resources and contacts and just the right amount of constructive criticism needed to keep us going in the right direction.  Now that we are back at home and knee-deep in another school year, we will work on our projects, our day jobs, our hobbies, and our families. We will send messages in our Google Hangout Chat,and we will follow each other via social media. We are a tribe. We are #WDC17. #WeAreInnovators.

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This is one of the things I worked on while at the Google Innovator Academy. I laid out plans for what needed to be done, created a prototype, conducted research about my end-user, and received feedback from my fellow Innovators.

Now, back to the experience of being at Google DC. I don’t know if that’s the official name of it or not, but that’s what I am calling it. I used to be an English teacher, so I often take liberties with making up words and names. We had a tour of the Capitol prior to the first session at the Google office. It was my intention to participate, but after sitting on a plane for nearly two hours and trekking across the city to get lunch and then head to the Capitol,  my feet just didn’t cooperate. In 2008, I fell down the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy and tore my Achilles Tendon. It hasn’t been right since. My first day in DC was painful so I opted to skip the tour and have a fan girl moment with one of our coaches. When we were sent our initial congratulatory letter with Academy details, we were told who the coaches would be. I was impressed with all of them, but secretly I wanted Jennie Magiera to be my coach. I knew I would be good with any of the coaches, but I have been a HUGE fan of Jennie’s since ISTE 2014. As referenced in an earlier post, I was hired for my current position about two weeks before ISTE 2014. I had no idea what to expect, but I was excited to see that Ashley Judd was going to be the opening keynote on Sunday night. She was good. Jennie Magiera was BETTER. Ashley was a celebrity who was talking to educators about relevant matters. Jennie was/is an educator talking to educators about the lives we lead and the lives we touch. Jennie is in the trenches every single day just like we are. She understands because our lives are similar.  I was so pumped by what she had to say. I knew that at some point in my life I had to meet her. I never imagined that I would be fortunate enough to meet her and have her be my coach during the Google Innovator Academy.  Jennie’s voice was the first I heard at my very first ISTE, and I have not forgotten what she said or how empowered I felt as a brand new instructional technology coach. After spending three days with her and having the opportunity to share my vision with her and get feedback, I remember why I felt so empowered. She is amazing. If by chance the other coaches are reading this, please don’t think that I think you aren’t amazing. You are. I have learned so much from all of you and am thankful for the time spent with each of you. But I think you get it. Jennie was my coach, and I spent most of my time learning from her. She was sympathetic and accommodating when I had issues arise with my foster son and a certain unnamed state child welfare agency, and she was gracious enough to take pictures with me so I could send them home to my foster son. I would like to believe that by placing us in groups with similar project themes, the Innovator program people in charge meant for the people in the groups to connect on a deeper level. The #RebelRousers did just that.  We are forever connected by the times we spent sitting at our table sharing our life experiences, our hopes, our fears, and our visions on how to change education and leave a lasting legacy.

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My people. My tribe. My #RebelRousers with our amazing coach Jennie!

Yes, I was chosen. Yes, although I still struggle with the thought, I am special. Regardless of what anyone else thinks or says about me, I am special. Not because I was chosen to go to the Google Innovator Academy. I am special because of who I am, what I have done,  and what I will do. What will my legacy be? At this point in time, I have no idea. I do know that I have worked with children all of my adult life. I probably reached some of them and made a difference in their lives. I am currently working with adults. I know that some appreciate the help I provide with their technology needs. That may be part of my legacy. I have loved my family and friends, and most of the time, they know that. The love and dedication I have for my family will be part of my legacy. My Google Innovator Academy #WDC17 project will most definitely be part of my legacy.

I am still contemplating a name for the project though I know my mother’s name will be tied in somehow. My mother was a para-professional in our district for 15 years before a terminal cancer diagnosis cut short her career. She loved the children she worked with and spent way more time than she got paid for creating opportunities for them – all of them. Especially the ones who needed just a little extra love and attention. When my STEM/STEAM bus is riding around town, I want her name to be visible as part of her legacy. This bus will be for the children in our community – all of them. All of our children have dreams, and we have an obligation to give them a forum to nurture those dreams as well as the opportunity to create, collaborate, critically think, and communicate. This bus will be for the teachers in our district. They crave more although sometimes they are too tired to do more.  Guess what? They do more anyway because that’s what teachers do. They want to give our students every opportunity for success, and they want to be prepared in every way to help them. The bus will also be used for professional development so that our teachers are equipped to help the students. The bus will be for my mother because this is just the kind of thing she would have wanted. She grew up extremely poor and never had anyone to encourage her to think about a better life. Thankfully she married my father, a career Army soldier, so she got a better life. She never forgot where she came from and spent her life-giving back. Lastly, this bus will be for me. I was chosen. I am special. I want to leave a lasting legacy for the children in my community. It’s my community because this is where we moved after my dad retired from the Army. It’s my community because I was educated for the last five years of my school career. It’s my community because this is where I live and work. It’s my community because this is where I choose to make a difference. Every time I go into a school and look at our students, I see so many possibilities. Every night when I put my foster son to bed and we have our nightly chats, I see so many possibilities.  Those possibilities will become a reality as I work through the process of re-purposing the bus and turn my dream into a reality. The work began before I got to the Innovator Academy. I dug a little deeper while in Washington, D. C. It’s time to get to work and get this bus in motion.

I was chosen. I am special. I am preparing my legacy.  That’s what happened when Ms. Fagin Went to Washington. She found herself.

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The possibilities are endless. I was chosen. I am special. I found myself.

Until next time…

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#GoogleEI #WDC17 Some of the most amazing educators I have had the pleasure to work with and learn from.

 

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Simple Tips on Keeping Your Educators Happy and Productive!

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Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them.  If you do all those things effectively, you can’t miss.  –Lee Iacocca

It’s that time of year again – the beginning of another school year in districts around the country. Countless teachers are preparing classrooms, drafting unit plans, finishing summer reading lists, and spending lots and lots of money on supplies to make sure their students have all that they need to be successful.  It may be that school is starting in the next week or the next month, but regardless of the start date, there are teachers who anxiously await the beginning of the year.

We started New Teacher Orientation in my district today.  I did not have a part in today’s activities, but as I was working on getting teachers assigned to their classroom cameras, I wondered about the new people who would be joining our district.  Are they fresh out of college and eager to begin their careers as educators?  Are some coming from another district because their previous employer just didn’t measure up to their needs?  Are they moving to the area because of a job transfer for their spouse?  New teachers to my district are probably just like new teachers in the thousands of districts across the country. They want to make a difference, they want to be respected, and they want to be recognized for the hard work they do.  If you are reading this and you are not an educator, please believe me when I say, being a teacher is HARD work.  It is hard emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically.  Teaching is not for the faint-hearted.  If you are an educator, you get what I am saying because you know you have felt the exact same way yet you continue to teach.

Last spring as the school year was wrapping up, I saw many articles on social media about teachers who were good at teaching yet they are leaving the profession in large numbers.  I would read the articles, agree with some points, and wonder why can’t the powers that be understand what we (educators) need?  Yes, we are grown ups with grown up jobs.  We are also just like the students we teach.  Our students need acceptance, recognition, affirmation, encouragement, and perhaps the thing they need the most is to know that somebody is on their side.  When they don’t get those things from us, we lose them, and it’s pretty hard to get them back.  Has anyone ever thought that the same can be said of the teachers who are leaving or have already left?

As the name of this blog implies, I am an instructional technology coach. Before that, I was a classroom teacher.  I also have the credentials to be an administrator although I have not served in that capacity.  If I were an administrator, these are the things I would do for the educators on my campus:

  1. Acknowledge that they are professionals. They may be new to the world of education, but they are indeed professionals. Treat them as such.  If they have an opinion, listen.  Let them try something new.  This world is where it is because someone (okay, a lot of someones) went out on a limb and tried something new.  I am willing to bet that the first day of Ron Clark’s teaching career, he probably did not know that his teaching style would be emulated around the world. Somebody he worked for trusted his professional judgement and look at him now.
  2. Accept them for who they are.  You hired them for a reason.  Let them do their job.  It may not be the way you would do it, but maybe your way isn’t the best way. If their way doesn’t work, talk about it with them and move on.  Isn’t that what we do with our students?  We do not grow without failing from time to time.  Think about it this way.  If they do something their way, and they are successful, both of you look good.  If they fail and learn from their failure because of your help, you will still look good because you were a good enough leader to help them through the experience.  That brings us to the next point…
  3.  Recognize them for a job well done.  Believe you me, I know that schools do not have an endless supply of money to buy gift cards or whatever, but how about standing up in a faculty meeting and giving a few teachers a 100,000 Grand candy bar? A bag doesn’t cost a lot, and the teacher gets recognition in front of their peers. When teachers don’t get recognized for their hard work by the people in charge, they question their worth.  I will be the first to tell you. We don’t get immediate feedback from our students.  They usually have to grow up before they realize all that teachers have done for them.  If you have a staff newsletter, recognize teachers in the newsletter.  Show up in their classroom and do a quick thank you via YouTube Live.  The point is…Do Something! If you don’t do something long enough, you will be hiring more teachers at the end of the school year.
  4. Be on their side.  No, I do not mean that you are supposed to support your teachers when they are obviously violating the law or the Teacher Code of Ethics, but be on their side when they are coming to work to make a difference for the students and teachers on your campus.  When your teachers need you, be there for them.  It’s like being a parent. When your children need you, you are there for them regardless. Do the same for your teachers. You want them to be there for the students.  Give the professionals in your building the same courtesy.  Be there for them. All day.  Every day.

Tomorrow afternoon when I see the many faces of our new teachers in my training sessions, I will hope that they have a great year although it may be filled with a few moments of uncertainty.  Hopefully, they will know that they are appreciated, wanted, respected, and most importantly, part of our family.  I hope the same is true for teachers around the country.  We need good teachers and cannot afford for our good ones to keep leaving to do other jobs.  Our kids deserve the best.  Since our kids deserve the best, why not treat our educators like they are the best?

Until next time…

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