The Tales...

I absolutely love blogging and love to read blogs. I have found blogs to be an immeasurable source of professional learning and started my own professional blog a few years ago. My goal was to highlight the technology that was going on in my district and explain new tools. I had high hopes, but the time just never seemed to be there. I know that in reality there is time in the day, but what it really comes down to is priorities. I also have found that I have not made time for any professional reading--including blogs. My educational magazines and Google Reader have been piling up with so much unread information that it's starting to feel like homework.

My day typically starts very early--the alarm goes off at 4:30am. I tend to be rushed from one thing to the next in the morning and am often running out the door with a million things in my hands. I am either taking the kids to school or driving straight to work, running in the door and starting my day. I would like to slow myself down in the morning and make the most of the time that I have before I leave so as to not be so stressed before I even get to work! I am going to carve time out of my morning to read professional articles, blogs, and books to get my mind set and ready. At the end of each day I would like to summarize what I have learned, or at the very least share a picture of what happened that day in the life of a technology integrator. I know that I will not be able to write a coherent blog post every day (I am sometimes fighting to keep my eyes open until 8pm), but I'm pretty sure that posting a picture is do-able.

So, what does this mean for you? Ask yourself what are you missing that you would like to include in your day? Everyone says, "I just don't have time!" The truth is that we all have priorities, so maybe a better statement is, "I can't make my child's Halloween costume by hand because it is not a priority." (Especially when Target has them on sale for $20 and you haven't sewed a day in your life since 7th grade Home Economics class). What are your priorities? How are you growing professionally? What are your goals for the year? Ask any science teacher, if you're not growing you're not living; so, make a list of goals--professional and personal. Make them measurable (ex. I will learn X number of new technology tools in X amount of time) and then make a plan to make them happen. Use your resources and don't accept any excuses from yourself.

Here are some of my goals:

1. Get into classrooms at least once a month.
2. Read professional literature every day and fiction at night.
3. Reflect on the day's events by posting a picture or a blog post at least 3 times a week.
4. Make the most of driving time by listening to audio books or podcasts.
5. Lose those last few lbs to get to goal weight.
6. Smile and listen. I mean really smile and really listen--to everyone, everyday.