by Krissy.Venosdale | Oct 11, 2014 | Reflect
Good morning—
If you are reading this, I need YOUR help. I am hoping to update this video and add a new twist. Would you consider writing on a sheet of paper what being connected means to you? Even give a shoutout to someone who helped you this week, this month, this year? PLEASE?!?!? I am hoping to get 100 photos. Tweet them to me at @Venspired or email to me at Krissy(at)Venspired.com
THANK YOU! and I promise to share this video right back… so you can share it too.
by Krissy.Venosdale | Oct 9, 2014 | Reflect
I’ve had my fair share of rants… about Common Core. Textbooks. Testing. Too much testing. I’ve spent hours complaining about what No Child Left Behind has done to, um… leave a bunch of kids behind. I’ve ranted, raved, and reflected about all of the wrongs of the American Education System. About how the media portrays educators. About all of it. But that is not my story. It’s not what I should be sharing.
So I stopped. I realized that what I needed to share wasn’t that “stuff” that I can’t do anything about. We all *KNOW* that stuff.
I stepped back… and listened to myself. That voice in my head. The one that guides me in my teaching. The one that makes me shut the world out when I get frustrated. The one that thinks I can only share when it’s “perfect.” The one that is thinking, years ahead, about changing the big picture. A point B without a point A.
It was shouting… “What can I change, right here, right now, that will improve their learning experience? What can I do to make today great?”
Today.
It turns out, a lot.
I listen more.
I take cues from their thinking to shape what I do.
I know perfect doesn’t exist.
I know that accepting help from others is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.
I constantly think about how I can open the door wider, for their thinking and their input in our learning.
I take risks.
I make mistakes.
Mistakes that bring laughter. Tears. And material for funny stories at my retirement party.
I share it all.
I share it with the teacher next door. The teacher on the other side of the world.
And I share it with students.
Not because I think everyone cares or everyone should care, but because I care.
When I want to share, and when I don’t. I know that if it impacts someone, somewhere.. in my classroom, in my school, or on the other side of the world… it was worth it.
This moment.
Because we’re born to connect and learn. It’s what makes us human. It’s what makes us good educators.
I use to think every single day about what I could do to change the world. What I could do to make situations better. I’d fall asleep at night wishing I could fix things that I couldn’t. Things that just aren’t my place to fix.
Then I realized, sometimes, it’s not about fixing at all.
It’s about change. Reflection. And most of all? Learning.
And sometimes, or most times, the very first place to start, is to change ourselves.
One tiny moment at a time…and it starts today.
by Krissy.Venosdale | Oct 5, 2014 | Reflect
You’re invited! What started out as a tiny brainstorming Facebook post, turned into a full blown project. That’s why I love being connected. I don’t have all the great ideas…but I have friends who do! 🙂 So, here’s the information and how YOU can be a part of it.
This Friday, October 10, I will launch the Connected Educators Olympics in my school, and YOU can, too. We have people all over the world brainstorming challenges on a Google Doc <right here.> You can add yours, too! Ideas will be collected until this Wednesday, and then I will be copying and pasting the tasks onto Twitter birds that the wonderful Laura created and sent me. I’ll share that document with everyone who signs up for the project so you can print and hang the birds throughout your school. The idea is that teachers will see a Twitter bird and complete the task. I’ll also include a checklist of 12 tasks that you can give teachers to choose from to get started. It’s not necessary to complete them all to participate– please keep this fun, low stress, and about getting connected!
Each task will be worth a specific number of points. Teachers in your school will show you proof of the completed task and add their points to your grand total. You’ll submit your grand total via a Google Form, linked in a weekly email to you, as the Challenge Captain.
There will be 3 weeks to participate. At the end of each week, I’ll share a graph here to show who is in the lead.
There will be a fun prize for the winning school, as well as global recognition. 🙂 Okay, the prizes will not be a car or a fabulous vacation, but the REAL prize here is CONNECTING with others around the world. Let’s have some fun and let’s help show others the value in getting connected!
EDITED TO ADD: THE COMPETITION IS IN PROGRESS, BUT REGISTRATION IS ONGOING.
IF YOU STILL WANT TO JOIN… JOIN US!
So are you ready?
>>>>SIGN UP HERE! <<<<
by Krissy.Venosdale | Oct 4, 2014 | Reflect
It’s Connected Educator month. I woke up today thinking about the value in being connected. I can’t even explain it. Being connected has gotten me a front row seat to a space shuttle launch, to the White House in the same room at President Obama, and even to Space Camp. And most recently? Flying in the Zero G airplane. I know – it sounds made up. It also sounds like bragging, which makes me cringe a bit in my head– but I’m sharing for one reason…To convince people to get connected. Because that’s what all of this is about. If I wasn’t connected, not only would I never have known about those opportunities, I would have never had the courage to apply for them. The courage I get from people that have been there for me, near and far. The people. It’s always about the people.
And I can’t even describe what these experiences meant to my students. Because every single one of them? I shared with them, too. They knew about them all. Especially the ZeroG flight, they were there when I didn’t make it in the first time, and when I tried again and made it. My kids were there when NASA called.
That’s when the kids said I was “lucky” and one said, “Mrs. V’s not lucky, she works really hard for these opportunities.” That’s when a kid stops you in your tracks. They get me. I get them. We get each other. We are all learners, moving forward, on this journey together.
So I blog. I share. I tweet. I connect. I’ve even shared openly about the journey to understand Autism. I share what inspires me and what breaks my heart. I would stop anything to share with someone else. I would give up my lunch break, give up my Saturday morning, give up my early bed time, if I thought I could help another educator. Whether they are next door in my school, or on the other side of the world. That’s what I do. Not because I am better than anyone else, but because connecting is what learning is.
It’s what I expect from my students. What I’ve always hoped for in my colleagues. And what I believe in. There have been times I was targeted because of my sharing. Times when I was told I shared too much or times when others misunderstood the reasons I share. There will be people who don’t understand, people who tell you that you are connecting “to promote yourself.” People who try to tear you down because they think your connections make you outshine them. People who don’t understand that connecting is not even about shining at all. It’s about creating a flame. Together.
I hope you are reading this and thinking, “Maybe I should start a blog…” or “Maybe I should Tweet more…” but I bet some of you are reading this and thinking, “I have nothing to share.” You are wrong. You are a teacher. You are a dreamer. You are a person who has everything to share. Your experience. Your goals. Your thoughts. Because when those get mixed and shared on the internet in a global forum, we all become better. You. Me. Us. Them. Together.
For our kids. For our future. For each other. Better together.
What are you waiting for? In fact, I will help you. The first five people to leave a comment on this post, I will create a blog banner and help you in any way I an get set up with Blogger or WordPress this October, in honor of Connected Educator month. Because I believe in what you have to share, and you should too.
