Reflections in Tech

It's 3:24 am and I have been wide awake for a least an hour. It was the coughing that woke me. Not mine but that of my seven year-old. He was diagnosed with influenza A this morning. His three year-old brother was diagnosed with influenza B and is sleeping fitfully next to my husband. Friday, today, will be day five of me staying home with sick kiddos. Two different strains of flu sick kiddos. Super irritable, not so sick that they can't annoy one another, sick kiddos. Super hungry, and attention craving sick kiddos. And in moments, it seems overwhelming, like too much at once.  I have not yet succumbed completely to the stress and exhaustion, and it's because of unyielding grace, understanding, and compassion from both my family and those surrounding my family.  Tuesday night, I went with a bunch of girlfriends to dinner and a movie, and that Brandy wouldn't take "no" for an answer. She knew! Self-care is important, and she made sure I took care of myself.

I have a seven year old, a first grader. Recently he read and passed comprehension questions on a third grade-level reading passage. Third grade. He solves algebraic problems with me while we wait for our meals when out at restaurants. He questions everything, makes connections to the world around him, and speaks and reads in Spanish. He is a wonder. And yet... he is one of the most frustrating and challenging beings I have ever met.   He argues, because he thinks he knows better. He cries, because we ask him to complete a task he doesn't want to do. He sulks, because his homework will take too long. He focuses, because the task at hand is challenging and rewarding. He persists, because he can see the end in sight. He works, because he loves to help. He investigates, because he thrives on knowing more. That curious, smart, and people-pleasing boy has been shying away more and more from compliance in recent days. Non-compliance - a character trait that could serve him well a

Last week the North Carolina School Library Media Association Conference (NCSLMA) was held in Winston Salem, NC.  Several of my colleagues attended from lots of schools in our area, but I was not one of the lucky attendees. I happened upon the many great things happening there by following the #ncslma18 hashtag on Twitter. The first tweet I saw was from the one and only, Stacy Lovdahl:  Made it to the opening! Can't wait to hear @pernilleripp and absorb some #awesomesauce from #ncslma18 #ncdlc pic.twitter.com/pvZCFoVPur — Stacy Lovdahl (@braveneutrino) October 4, 2018 Stacy is traveling the state serving districts from far and wide as an Educator on Loan with DPI while she also serves her home district, I knew good things would be coming from her all day.  My excitement for the conference was elevated by the incredible authors and speakers they had lined up, one being Pernille Ripp!  Pernille is the creator of the incredible Global Read Aloud project.   Her pass

I created a cool resource to help math teachers in our district navigate digital resources for mathematics instruction. This was a need for our educators as the NC Math Standards have been updated for this school year.  This site features an Awesome Table that is sortable via standard, cluster, or key word. It is my hope that this will be a valuable resource for teachers while planning lessons/units. Click here to access the site!

I earned this handy, dandy badge a couple months ago. It's a CETL Certification, which says I'm a Certified Educational Technology Leader. That's a mouthful, and a year ago, I would have said, "No way, I could never pass that test." I had been introduced to the COSN network, casually, on one of those casual BCPS 10 hour summer workdays.  I brushed it off as as "Yeah, right" possibility because my knowledge of the vastness that is technology leadership was not on my radar, at all.  Fast-forward to fall of 2017, and NCDPI announces that there is a partnership with COSN to provide a 2 day course, as well as the testing for CETL Certification. Lucky me, I got signed up, and found myself in Wake county for training in January. What a whirlwind of information; two straight days of information overload! At the conclusion of the training days we'd had about 4 weeks to study, as the test was scheduled for February 28th. I spent lots of time working through al

For the past four years the North Carolina Digital Leaders Coaching Network (NCDLCN) has been a driving force in my growth as a coach.  I have been able to grow my professional network, stretch my thinking, grow through reflection, and put new ideas into practice.  The most recent NCDLCN session I participated in was an alumni session focussed on the concept of design thinking.  I didn't exactly know what I was getting into, but I knew that I would learn something new, be with my people, and have a blast. That I did. As part of the design thinking process each participant was paired with another to work through the process.  The best part of this partnership, was two-fold; my partner was Delaine, one of my mentees from the 2016-2017 cohort, and the purpose of the design thinking process we were to work through was to solve our partner's problem!  This was so powerful!  I love helping people solve their problems, mine, not-so-much.   At the end of our two day challenge, Dela