January 17

Creative Writing

This post was originally posted in my Substack.

I need to get back into writing creatively. I write a lot for work and for my professional development, however I have pretty much stopped writing creatively…for fun…to keep my mind sharp…keep my creativity flowing…and as a form of therapy. 

Wattpad allows me to write on the fly on my phone, so it is more typing on the fly. I sometimes carry and small notepad to jot ideas, and story parts, and poems, and miscellaneous thoughts down. Easier to do when wearing old man cargo pants.

I need to get back to this. To do so, I need to MAKE THE TIME. Let’s see what happens.

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January 4

Saturday Mornings

This post was first published on my Substack.

“Saturday Mornings” a time for productivity. I used to wake up on Saturday mornings rather late, since I was usually up late on Friday nights. As that changed, I would get up early on Saturday and participate in an educational “#satchat” on Twitter, mostly lurking and answering only on occasion.

Then, I restarted my Saturday morning podcasts back up for my classroom. I switched to being a creator over being just a consumer. That counts, even if few people consume what I produce.

Now that I have added the title of Vice President of PAECT to my responsibilities, my Saturdays have become even more productive. The President of PAECT, Eric Verno has a weekly meeting where we collaborate on PAECT business. Saturday mornings work best for our schedules, so on top of my weekly podcast, I have added a weekly meeting, and from there I wrap up some tasks we discuss. My thought is that everything is fresh in my mind and I already have my computer open, so just keep going. That then frees up the rest of the day for relaxation and fun.

Category: Cool Stuff, Podcast, Random Musings | Comments Off on Saturday Mornings
July 9

“What Is” or “The Importance of Relaxation”

So, Summer 2024 is not only upon us, it seems as if it is almost over. July 4th usually brings the “Back to School Supplies” displays to the area stores, which in turn sets my brain into school starts soon mode. This year the the displays were seen toward the end of June in stores that will remain unnamed, I will not give them free advertising here, no matter how small the audience. Last week when looking for a replacement umbrella for my deck, I came across HALLOWEEN DISPLAYS!?!?!?! 

What is my point, you may ask? We as a society are always in a rush to get to the next moment in time, or event. (I am struggling with vocabulary as I write this, I have the Weather Channel playing in the background, which is offsetting my focus.) Be they small events or major milestones, we are always looking to the next step once we reach the most current checkpoint. This behavior is disturbing, to say the least. Many people, myself included, are so focused on what is next that we are missing out on “What Is.” 

“What Is” is in the moment, it should be enjoyed, we should let the good “What Is” moments wash over us and savor them. The “what’s next “will still be there, sometimes looming, sometimes roaring at us like a freight train, but we need to savor the “What Is.” As I sometimes rush through my morning espresso so I can move on to the next task or event, I thought why even drink the espresso if I am just going to slurp it down? There is no enjoyment in it, it is just a routine, but not enjoyable. I am not alone in this, I see others all the time in a rush to move on to the next meme, the next TikTok, the next .gif, the next selfie, the next amusement park ride, etc, while not truly appreciating the “What Is Now.”

Last year, I focused on “Intentionality” as my goal for the school year, I was somewhat successful, but I still have more work to do in building that skill.  This year I will add focusing on enjoying the “What Is” to that skill set. I need to relearn how to relax and enjoy the moment and not rush on to the next. I needed to be reminded by THIS SONG from the B-52’s, one of my favorite songs of all time. (As I watched the video to make sure it was appropriate to link to this blog, I became antsy, thinking of when should I go make my espresso. I resisted multitasking, but it proves that I have much more work to do focusing on the “What Is,” relaxing, and enjoying the moment.) 

Stop, Take a Deep Breath, Look Around You, Enjoy the Moment if it is a Positive.

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August 20

This Year’s Focus…2023-2024 School Year

So, another school year is upon us, and Summer disappeared in the blink of an eye, or so it seems.  Every school year I try and add something new to my class in an attempt to keep up with current trends in education and prevent myself from becoming stale.  This year is no different, there will be several new websites and apps utilized throughout my courses, however, my main addition is not a website or an app; it will be INTENTIONALITY.

Intentionality is completing actions with a specific and/or deliberate focus.  This addition is not just meant for myself, I hope to instill the concept into my students.  I made this the focus of my upcoming school year after numerous discussions with my PLN, Professional Learning Network, within PAECT and KTIs, Keystone Technology Innovators.  The focus of a podcast I am honored to co-host, the PAECT Pod has been interviewing various members about our week-long KTI Summit at Shippensburg University in July, and the term Intentionality kept entering into the conversations.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I need to not just introduce my students to new learning opportunities, new concepts, new ideas, and new tools to utilize, but I also have to help instill a purpose for all of this new information.  The previous sentence seems like it is an overly obnoxious run-on, but so be it.  I need to instill the thought in students that their actions, no matter how trivial they may seem, reflect back upon them and therefore are worth their best effort.  Hopefully, this concept can then be carried forward after they move on through school and life.  This post s not meant to be some sort of melodramatic declaration, it is more of a correction based n self-reflection.

My PAECT Pod co-host Eric Verno and I have mentioned the need to keep current and sharp since educational technology changes so quickly, think AI in Education.  Eric has mentioned his efforts to keep from getting complacent.  That is when I realized that in a way, I continually work to keep current with new ideas in education, but I do not always communicate the why f new tools and concepts to my students.  I push out the information, but sometimes I lose focus as to why we are doing things or using various tools and websites.  This year, I will do my best to not only communicate the why to my students, but to instill the concept of INTENTIONALITY into their everyday actions.

 

 

Category: Lessons and Teacher Things, Random Musings | LEAVE A COMMENT