When Life Gives You Lemons, Squeeze in a Little Learning

Summer break equates to downtime and rest and relaxation for many of us.  Pool time, taking time for coffee, slushes, or lemonade, taking a class, running kids to activities or playdates, visiting your local library with a bunch of books in your arms - ahhh, sweet summer - when our time is (mostly) our own!!

Summer also means more time to explore professional learning.  These might be things we don't take the time to do during the year.  Let's face it, often the school year doesn't afford us the luxury of reading professional books or exploring new blogs or podcasts.  This is one of the things I love best about summer!

In June, I actually scheduled time to "meet" with an online book group to discuss a book we were all reading.  I was so excited to have this learning time set aside—and then life got in the way.  My daughter wrecked her car, our flights for vacation were delayed, a contractor we'd scheduled for some home repair work was available a month earlier than we'd planned, and I had a bout of pink eye (in the summer—who gets pink eye in the summer??).  All of these events prevented me from participating in my book study for two weeks in a row.  Life was giving me lemons, for sure!

Just how did I turn these lemons into lemonade?  By adjusting my attitude a bit to see the many unplanned episodes of waiting as chances to read, listen, and to learn!

Whether you read a professional book at the pool, listen to podcasts in the car while running errands, or catch up on your favorite blogs while waiting for a flight—there are lots of opportunities to use small snippets of time to expand your knowledge on a topic near and dear to your heart.

Author Donalyn Miller calls it edge time reading in her book Reading in the Wild, where readers learn to use even the smallest of spurts of time to get in a few pages with their current book of choice.

I think we can apply this same principle to LEARNING.  Here are a few ways I used small chunks of time found "around the edges" of bigger commitments to squeeze in a little summer learning just in the last week alone:

• read a blogpost while waiting for the spin cycle on washer to end
• read another blogpost while on hold with car insurance company
• caught up on new blogposts while waiting for a prescription
• read PD book reviews while waiting for paint to be mixed at hardware store
• listened to podcasts while painting a room
• read a professional book while traveling to airport an hour away
• listened to podcasts while waiting for flight
• read blogpost while waiting for Uber ride
• followed up on Instagram post book referral while in hospital waiting room 

Most of these examples involved waiting or trying to finish a project.  Instead of seeing these as frustrations keeping me from moving on to the next thing, I chose to see them as OPPORTUNITIES to learn - the old LEMONS vs LEMONADE debate.  I took these opportunities to squeeze in a little learning!  

Here are some of what I've been reading and listening to this summer:

• Relentless by Hamish Brewer
• The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Seravallo
• The Creativity Project edited by Colby Sharp
• Our Story Begins edited by Elissa Brent Weissman

• Cult of Pedagogy podcast 
• Not So Wimpy Teacher podcast
• House of #EdTech podcast
• Mind/Shift podcast
• Edverything podcast

What are some of your favorite ways to squeeeeeeeeeze in a little learning (or reading) in the summer?

Grab this free resource to help you record you thoughts and learning as you listen to podcasts during your own "edge time" learning!  Happy listening and reading!

Are You Ready to Be the Wild Card

It's a New Year!  We're pumped to head into a year filled with learning opportunities and chances to grow!  Does anyone else get excited to see a calendar filled with....NOTHING??  Seriously, a clean wide-open calendar gives us goose bumps to think of all that will fill our 2018!

Already 2018 has come in with a bang! Just a week ago, two of our favorite teachers on the planet have published a book to help share their passion for teaching and learning!

And we'll give you the chance to win your very own copy!

Now, here's a little background, just in case you don't know Hope and Wade.  We had the pleasure of meeting Wade and Hope King at a conference almost a year ago, and believe me, they're the real deal! Their presentation was filled with strategies to keep your students engaged and learning—all demonstrated while standing on chairs, tables, the stage, and sometimes involving a guitar, costume, or mask.  The energy level was so high, I'm pretty sure the resort must have received a refund on their energy bill!

Have you heard of Ron Clark Academy? This renowned model school is where Hope and Wade practice and share their craft with many students and visiting professionals.  The vision of RCA is completely aligned with the vision the Kings have for transforming classrooms worldwide.

The Kings are now on a mission to share their unique brand of creativity with educators who can't travel to see them in action at RCA, thanks to their new book, The Wild Card.

How can DOES this book help me to be a better teacher? Hope and Wade share so many real-life examples of tapping into their creativity to make sure their students are not just engaged, but also share a myriad of ways to magically transforming your learning environment to ensure that students are totally captivated!  They truly show how creativity is the driving force behind student engagement.

Do you want to learn more about Hope and Wade's seven-step process to find your own creativity?  This book will give you the confidence to create your own memorable lessons and share the magic of learning with your students!

Here are just a few one-line wisdoms that had us nodding our heads and saying, "Oh YES!"

That's how every single child should feel every single day.

(referring to Hope's student Kaylie wondering what Ms. King's doing today; in the section on creativity driving engagement)

If you want to create magic, you must NEVER settle or "good enough," because that's what your students will become.

(in the discussion on the need for consistency to hold students to our high expectations)

Why be the barrier when you could be the wild card?

(referring to using your smile, passion, enthusiasm, and desire to conquer curriculum challenges)

We could continue quoting this book ALL DAY LONG, but we'd rather get it in your hands so you can feel its magic and use its power to discover how to deliver content creatively.  We'd love to send you your very own copy of The Wild Card - all you have to do is use the link below for your chance to win!!

RAFFLECOPTER:  http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9466be362/?

Magic Moments

In the meantime, we'd love if you'd share (find us on social media and share there—use the #bethewildcard hashtag) to tell us in one sentence about a magical moment of creativity you've experienced in your own classroom!  Plus, share a magic moment below in our comments for an extra entry to win The Wild Card.

We'll start: a magical moment in our classrooms....
for one of us...it would have to be the "talking box" moment when a box of goodies shipped to us from Venezuela "talked" to the students! 
(Let me tell you, the 52 students in that room were awe-struck.  Did it take money or extra time? No, it was just a silly moment when a not-so-creative teacher (me) stepped outside her comfort zone and created a magic moment.)

For the second of us...one magic moment was when a shy and quiet student felt empowered to take center stage in class by jumping up onto the "stage" in the middle of the classroom to share her thinking in solving a math problem. 
(Wow, what a moment when you see a transformation in a student! That's true magic!)

Thanks to Wade and Hope for helping us to create an environment where our students feel empowered to reach beyond their comfort levels and making them want to be in our classrooms!

Kids Deserve It

Happy Fall to you all!  I'm not sure what happened to September, but here it is finally feeling like fall. I hope your school year is off to a glorious start!

I am a reader, and while I read much fiction, and middle grades and YA books, I try to balance those out with professional books, too.  Some professional books are just too good not to share, so I'd like to spotlight one each month.  I hope you'll find some inspiration from these books and authors,  just as I have. Please be sure to comment below to share your own experiences with these books!

Kids Deserve It - by Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome

Kids Deserve It—wow! First up, full disclosure:  I am in no way, shape, or form getting compensation for promoting this book, but as a teacher, I can't NOT share my feelings about all it offers.  This is not just a book, it's a movement to support the good things in education—think cheerleader meets mentor meets support group meets tribe!

Published in 2016 by Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc., Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome collaborated to put all their reasons for stretching beyond conventional thinking about education in this book! The reason we do what we do is.....well, that's easy—it's the TITLE of their book!

The basics of why we do what we do are right here between the soft vinyl covers of this book! Our kids deserve our best—that's the bottom line.  And Todd and Adam give you the ideas, tools, and strategies to present your best each day.

Okay, more full disclosure—I don't know about you, but honestly, I don't bring my A-GAME each and every single day.  I am human, I make mistakes; I am not perfect.  Here are some truly embarrassing examples:

• Chapter 2 - Don't Live on an Island - some days I do want to shut my door and shut out all of the "noise" that encompasses the field of education to just "do my thing" without venturing outside of my comfort zone.
• Chapter 14 - You Never Know - yep, that late-to-school kid gets me sometimes, and I don't focus on the fact that she has very little control over when she arrives at school; I give in to my frustration and forget to simply celebrate that she IS (finally) HERE.
• Chapter 27 - More Meat, Less Glitter - I love glitter, but isn't it the meat of the learning that's important? I'm guilty of spending far more time on the glitter than I should at times.
• Chapter 28 - For the Love of Reading - As a book lover and an avid reader, my classroom library is extensive...but we've not really taken the time to explore these wonderful resources; also I'm missing out on a huge influencing component of fostering a love of reading: allowing kids time to talk books with each other frequently.

So now you know the ugly truth:  my kids don't get the best me each and every day.  Wow, that's hard to put out there!! However, one of the best things about this book, even with these self-admitted "failings," I did see myself and many of my colleagues in so many of the chapters in this book!  I love that each chapter ends with a short reflection section to challenge us to look for the positives and to share our thoughts and successes to build up others who also are pushing the boundaries and challenging thinking about education.

I'm blessed to work in a school where we are allowed to try new things, and we're encouraged to share and bring new ideas to others. We encourage each other to be leaders worth following (Chapter 6); we teach kids strategies for dealing with bullies (Chapter 12); we know that relationships matter most (Chapter 17), and we are learning to find ways to take charge of our own professional learning (Chapter 24).  Which brings us back full circle—back around to why I wanted to share my thoughts on this very book.  I was taking charge of my own learning when I discovered this book and the entire KDI community, and now I challenge you to look for yourself to see what it can offer you!

Todd and Adam underscore the importance of keeping kids as our focus and celebrating with our kids.  One easy way to do this is making good calls home (Chapter 5).  This is something I've done for years!  I had a parent tell me a couple of years ago that they still have a saved message from me on their voice mail——and the student is about to finish high school!  If you are a Twitter user, search the hashtag #goodcallshome to find out more.  Better yet, use this link to grab a free recording sheet to help you track your own #goodcallshome!

If you haven't seen Kids Deserve It, look for it at your library, bookstore, or ask your administration to get a copy for your school. Then read it, pass it around, and I promise you won't be disappointed. Pick one up for any preservice teachers you work with, too!

I'll leave you with this quote (page 83) to consider—and this book is filled with many such bite-sized tidbits of wisdom! Use your power to build up your kids—all kids deserve it!