HERE! Attendance is not Being Present

My niece is a straight A student, plays two different sports and is on the Science Team.  She also volunteers and has great citizenship marks.  But she will not receive a certain award from her school and district this year because of one thing: attendance.

She loves school and never complains about getting ready in the morning.  She doesn't moan over Mondays or overly celebrate holidays.  She loves her teachers and her classmates, but she has missed too many days (and it's only the second quarter.)

Some of these absences could not be helped.  She had a medical issue which required some doctor visits and a small procedure.  She also got sick (schools are enormous petri dishes) and had to be out (you are supposed to keep your child home until they have been fever free for 24 hours.) And, yes it's true, her aunt has been known to take her and her brother out of school for play.  I take them out on the last beautiful day of Summer and sometimes the first sign of Spring. Why? Because it's too nice to be stuck inside.  Memories are important things to be made. 

A lot of companies are moving to unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO).  Instead of giving a definite amount of sick time, family illness days and vacation, companies are giving the freedom, and responsibility, to the employees.  If you get your work done, it doesn't matter how many days you take off.

People who I know that work for these companies rarely take sick time and vacation time.  They love their jobs and want to be working.  They feel what they do makes a difference.  They feel needed and appreciated and probably don't even take the time they should.  The choice, however, to take or not to take a day is completely theirs.  What power.  What responsibility.  What an idea.

Imagine if school was like that.  In Indiana, although there are required number of school days and hours, "seat time" is not a factor in passing grades.  Attendance is important.  But being present is more important.  And how many students are actually present?  How many are engaged (which is NOT the same thing as participating)?  What if, instead of spending time tracking attendance and data, when spend time getting to know students and their families?

The first few years of my career, My sisters and I all got married and then they started having babies.  Rarely were these events scheduled around my working days.  I have been there for every wedding and the days leading up, and I was there for every birth.  These memories are important.

Maybe one day being present will mean more than being in attendance.  Until then we will continue to take our kids out for the sake of health and memories. 

Roundabouts: A Life Lesson

There is a (fairly) new roundabout where I live.  It's not a traditional one but is a genius design.  A lot of people will disagree; it's taken some time to get used to it. And as a ponder on the difficulty of maneuvering this new traffic pattern, I am reminded of why we sometimes have such a hard time with it.

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Lesson 1: Read the Directions

There are signs that tell you what lane you need to be in before you get there. And, even more genius still, there are dotted lines that tell you how to follow your lane.  It was a bit confusing at first and even now I find myself in the wrong lane, usually as a result of autopilot.  We learn very early how to read and follow directions, but we rarely do.  Have a new piece of electronic to set up? I immediately toss the directions; I can figure it out on my own.  We especially don't read directions if there are buttons to push.  We push those buttons and then figure out what they do.  Generally, we are a toss out directions society (unless you purchase furniture from IKEA, never throw those out.)

This roundabout is different.  You have to follow the lines and you have to read the directions.  For the sake and safety of others and the flow of traffic, which roundabouts encourage.

Lesson 2: Sense of Entitlement

I know you think that's your lane.  After all, you are in it.  But you don't own that lane.  There are no squatter's rights when it comes to roundabouts.  Someone might need that lane more than you.  Someone might even deserve that lane more than you.  Someone else might think that lane belongs to them.  Be aware of your surroundings and stop claiming lanes like the last piece of bread in the Hunger Games.

Lesson 3: Looking out for Each Other

Since when did we become a society that doesn't look out for others? Speaking of needing a lane more than you, there are semi trucks that might need a little of your lane.  Slow down, give them room and watch out for others.  Help them through the roundabout.  When my sister hits the roundabout, she hits her horn.  She says to others, watch out! We are all in this together.  So when you enter the roundabout, do so with the understanding that there are other drivers who deserve to be there as much as you do. Help them out.  There's no prize at the end if you are the first one around.

Let us take these lessons and apply to them to our roundabouts and our lives.  Roundabouts are good (see this article here) and eventually, we will all learn how to conquer them.  Of course, then we have to watch out for visitors...

Confessions of a School Board Member

This topic should be a lot of posts (and might be), but today I want to focus on the voice of the people.  I saw on Facebook that Trey Hollingsworh put out a survey to find out if people really wanted a southern wall built and if it should be a priority.  At first I thought, good for you, Trey!  But then I thought of the people who are most likely to voice their opinions.

The thing is, the loudest voice isn't always to majority, but it definitely gets heard.  I am an elected official and always try to vote how those who put me in my seat want me to vote.  I am lucky; I hear from a lot of people.  And I have tried to stay true to those people.  But some might say, what if they don't know what they want?

One of my favorite quotes is by Henry Ford and goes something like, If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me faster horses.  My job is a lot like that, being in technology.  We don't know what we don't know and often don't know what we need.

I think, however, to vote one way because you think it's what's best for the community, even though it goes against the majority thought, is not right.  Even if you think you are doing it for the right reasons.  If you think the public isn't informed enough to make a good decision, then, well, why not? What is it that you know that they can't know?  Don't get me wrong, ignorance is wonderful bliss, but most of us holding a public seat were put there to be the voice of the people, not the reason, not the brain, not even the heart.  So if you aren't hearing people and then voting, you can't be a voice.  And if you think those out there aren't educated enough to make the "right" choice, you better get out there and get to teaching.

Keeping talking, guys. I'm still listening.

You Complete Me

Today is day 3 of the 30 day blog challenge.  I don't have anything planned to say today, but I must post to fulfill my self-induced goal, so here we are.  You reading this uninspired material, and me wishing I had put more thought into this post.

I will say that this weekend was filled with baking and crafts and I loved it.  When you are with a team of people who complete you, it makes the world feel right.  Everyone has strengths and weakness, and it is amazing when you can spend time with those who balance you out.  They say if you want to be happy, surround yourself with people who are happy.  Want to be successful? Find some successful people with whom to hang.  I say, if you want to feel complete, find those people who complete you.

Being self-aware can be scary and exhausting, but this evening, I challenge you to reflect on what you are good at and where you are lacking.  Think of those in your life that help balance you.  This is important because not only are they helping you, but you are helping them.  Love to start projects but need a finisher? I bet there is a finisher out there waiting for you to start a project.  Like to look at the big picture but miss the details?  There is a detailed-oriented person out there waiting for you.

I would like to close this post by thanking my friends and family (and hubby!) for completing me, strengthening my weaknesses, and allowing me to support theirs.

Google: Friend or Foe?

A few weeks ago a met with a lawyer regarding grown up things, and when I walked in, the first thing he said to me after introducing himself was, "You're in technology, right?" So before we got down to business, I set up his Google Cloud print.

The other day I was "fixing" my uncles computer (he doesn't want to have to login) when my sister called me.  "How do I hit enter to make two lines in a cell in Google Sheets? It just keeps moving me to the next cell."

"Did you Google it?" I asked her, because I Google everything.  The printer problem? Googled it.  Setting up Windows 10 so my uncle didn't have to login? Googled it.

"That's what I have you for," she replied.  And so I took to Google and searched "how to force a line break in a cell in Google Sheets" and send her my findings.  She was grateful.  She had tried the help feature, but when you don't know exactly what it is you want to do, it's not always, well, helpful.

There is a world of thought out there that Google is making us dumber.  "Kids these days don't need to learn nuthin cuz they can just Google it."  Well of course they can.  But it's not as simple as it sounds.  You have to know what you are looking for.  My sister could have typed "How do I hit enter to make two lines in a cell in Google Sheets" into the Google search bar, and she may have even found what she was looking for.  But using the words "line break", as opposed to "page break", gets better results.

I completely disagree that Google is the cause for lazy brains.  I actually believe the opposite.  No longer do we have to pour over facts, numbers, dates, or formulas, memorizing information to regurgitate it later.  Instead, we can spend our time creating, analyzing, thinking, and doing.

Instead of taking the time to learns things, we can spend time learning how to do things. 

In school we learn how to add, multiply and divide fractions, but we rarely learn to understand fractions.  And even rarer is the use of fractions for the purpose of creating.  We are giving students information that they can find on their own.

Because of Google and Youtube (which is owned by Google, actually Google is owned by the parent company Alphabet, Inc., which I found out by googling it) we don't have the study all of the names of all of the parts to be able to fix something.

Google has given me the confidence to fix computers, cars, sinks, my niece's tantrums.  I am smarter because of Google.  I can easily find expert information and explore countries around the world.  Not only that, when I have a wonder, I can Google it, which makes me wonder more!

Like with everything, it has to be taught how to be used.  I am better at Googling that most of my family.  Instead of shying away from using Google in classrooms, we should teach our students how to find the answers to their questions.  That is the their questions, what they want to know, not the questions we pose to them for the sake of the final exam looming at the end of the marking period.

Google is not our foe; Google is our friend.  Our much smarter, older friend who can answer questions, give advice, and show you how to do practically anything.

Fears of Blogging

Blogging is scary.  You put your ideas out there for the world to analyze, criticize and pull apart.  Unless no one reads it, which might be worse.  Blogging is an important part of creating an online presence as well as sharing your expertise and perspective.  I have challenged myself to a 30 day blog, uh, challenge, where I will post a blog every day for 30 days.  In this first post I will review my fears and how I (mostly) overcame them.

1. I have nothing to say.  

I once suggested to my brother-in-law that he start a blog.  He is insanely witty.  His response to me was, "Then people will know how infrequently funny I am."  But that's the best part of blogs.  You can write several when you are on a roll and save them for publishing later.  You can even schedule your blogs to publish at a future date.

The other key to collecting your thoughts is to keep a blog ideas and notes list.  I use Siri a lot. Ideas usually hit me when I am driving.  I ask Siri to create a note and catch my thought as they come.  You have ideas, opinions and, unique to anyone else, perspective.  Blogs can also be edited, rearranged and tagged later.  I have 3 different blogs for the different hats I wear.

Lastly, research it! Ever have a wonder? Chances are others wonder that, too.  Have a seat, pour yourself a cup of coffee and give your wonder to Google.  Putting links to other sites in your blog posts helps up drive up your traffic and satisfy your reads.  Here are 8 reasons to link in your posts. (See what I did there?)

2. No one will read your blog.

This is probably my biggest fear, that I will pour heart out and no one will read it.  But if you never write it, you can be assured that no one will ever read it.  To help promote you own blog, share your posts on social media.  Twitter, LinkedIn and even (sigh) Facebook can be great places for you to peddle your ideas.

Friends, families and colleagues can also help share and create an audience.  Let them know you are blogging and would love for them to read, comment and share.  Sharing is caring but it can also be scary.  Getting a small following and spreading the word will help create a deserving audience for you newly birthed ideas.

3. Your blog might not be publish-worthy.

Ok, I lied.  THIS is my biggest fear.  I usually don't sit down to write a blog post until I have drafted the entire post in my head.  I lie awake at night, revising and editing in my noggin.  More often than not, I decide it's not worthy and I trash it, even before I have made the first key stroke.

You have to be ok with failure.  Not every post is going to be worthy of tons of retweets, shares and likes.  But to be a better writer, you have to write.  Stephen King's book On Writing gives writers tips on becoming better.  However I like Jeff Goins perspective on what it means to be "good".

4. You can't say what you really want to say.

This one holds me back a lot.  I have posts I would like to write and publish, but fear of retribution keeps me from pulling the publishing trigger.  Writing is truth, but do people really want the truth?  We have heard the stories of how comments online have destroyed careers and lives; is it worth it?  Perhaps I am being melodramatic.  Perhaps others will not be as offended as I imagine.  Things online live forever, though, and we have to remember that as we choose our words.  Freedom of speech allows us to say what we want, but it does not protect us from fallout, consequences or penalty.  I ask myself why I want to write, choose my audience and then make sure my words match my purpose.  Remember, blogs aren't diaries.  You are writing to have it read.  Remember your audience, remember your purpose and remember your story.

Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the conquest of it (Anonymous), so begin overcoming your fear of blogging and start sharing your awesome ideas.

Rainbows & Sunshine: Confessions of a Lifelong Learner

I wrote a blog post of the misconceptions of lifelong learners, and, as usual, it really got me thinking (and if we are being honest, feeling sorry for myself).  

I consider myself a lifelong learner.  I am naturally curious, and I don’t need to wait to be told what that button does.  As soon as you aren’t looking, I’m gonna press it.  And I do not think we get a bad rap, but I do think we are sometimes taken for granted.

On a Friday at 3:30pm, I was asked to do a training on a new technology tool that was purchased for the district.  The training would be the following Monday.  I said, sure! And spent the weekend learning how to use the tool (without a class, students or data).

I don’t think the author of the request even thought that I might not know how to use it.  But there’s no one to give me training, no one to whom I can turn to ask for instructions.  Well, except Google.

It happened again today.  A group of teachers came to me, “We need this.”

I answered, “Oh, I don’t know how to do that.”  They didn’t respond.  They didn’t move.  They just stood there, waiting.  So I logged in, took a look around, and figured it out.  

It’s like they couldn’t accept the fact I didn’t know how to do something.  I mean, I am totally flattered.  But sometimes I get frustrated.  Maybe I feel taken for granted.  Maybe I just want someone to realize how hard I work. Maybe I just need someone to tell me I’m pretty.

I think what I need is for others to understand that there is no magic wand; I was not gifted at birth with the knowledge of all things technology.  I wasn’t even trained in technology. I am a person. I get overwhelmed.  I don’t know.  But I figure it out.  Sometimes it takes me a while, sometimes I get distracted, but I figure it out in the end.  

So be patient, be empathetic and be curious.  Also, Google it.  Because honestly, that’s what I am going to do when you aren’t looking.

Edit: You know what I really hate? When I finally teach myself to do something and then the next time I go to do it I can’t remember and I wander around the database, looking for clues, trying hard to pull memories that will not come...