Craziest 1st week ever!

So let me start with that I live in Austin and we definitely did not get the worst of the weather this last week like many of Houston and Coastal friends and family.  My heart goes out to them in this crazy time and I will be contributing to their recovery efforts anyway possible.

Our first day of school was Monday and due to the copious amount of rain that came down in our area this weekend we ended up having a delayed start for the first day.  Talk about a different way to start the school year!  My first year teaching was when Katrina hit and I remember the school I worked at closing for a day while we opened our campus to evacuees. 

From NCA Cheer Camp Aug 2017 at Hendrickson HS

Thankfully before all the crazy weather started I was able to get an assistant cheer coach so I don't think I'll be pulled in as many directions as I was thinking I would.  She came to our first practice on Tuesday and was able to help cover the first Volleyball game so I was able to see my husband and kittens before the sun went down!  I'm looking forward to splitting the duties with her so I'll be able to get more planning done for when I work with my math teachers and I won't be totally sucked into all thing cheer.

I'm looking forward to using Google Classroom this year to help my teachers with some Professional Development and learning.  I just hope that I can figure out a way to really streamline the process and routines for my teachers so it's not another burden on their plates.  If you have any ideas or suggestions I would love to hear them!


I hope everyone else is having a great beginning of the school year and staying safe and dry!

Gotta Stay Active and Involved this year!

I saw Julie's post about two days ago and I realized that I really need to get into blogging and get a smoother system working for my Twitter so I can follow all my interests better and not be so ADD.  I figured I would jump on into #SundayFunday and #PushSend even if my blog seems short and not like something others would be interested in.  But of course today something interesting happened that was one of my goals to start doing more of.

I'm going to list my goals in order of most attainable to year long goals.  But the theme is... Stay Involved and Organized!

Goal 1 - Organize my twitter deck so I don't get so distracted by other things -- like this cute cat -- when I'm scrolling through who I follow.  I'm a little ADD when it comes to animals!

Goal 2 - Actually plan for, participate in and learn something from a Twitter Chat.  Which happened TONIGHT!  But it wasn't a planned one, so I need to continue doing this and actually plan on doing it advance.

Goal 3 - Be more involved in Educational Policy, stay up to date with what is happening and possibly testify in front of the state to let them know what teachers really do want and need.  

Part of this goal actually got to happen TODAY!  Only downside of having a friend that works on policy education means you might get a text or call with a less than 24 hour notice that says "Wanna come testify on a teach pay bill tomorrow??😄😄" Well, just under 24 hours later I was standing in front of the Texas House of Representatives Public Education Committee with my hands shaking, 3 pieces of paper with lots of things crossed out, a shaky voice and saying "So I had all this planned stuff to talk to you about but I'm just going to give you the important information..."  

It went surprisingly well!  They actually listened and didn't stare at their phones the whole time, and even really asked me some questions that I was able to answer and I think I helped Rep Bernal see the complexity of why teachers move from district to district.  And now I think they'll call me more to testify!

Goal 4 - Actually stick to my schedule on walkthroughs!  I get pulled way too often for various meetings, preparing for EOC testing, and to create different things.  I have a tendency to make a plan one week and then go off script when the time comes.  I did get some tips while at CAMT to help plan my time and with my goals for the year, so hopefully that will help me stick to my plans.

Goal 5 - Coteach with teachers on a regular basis.

Goal 6 - Keep up with blogging and stay active in the math teacher and IC/TOSA twitterverse.

I think that's all of them.  Fingers crossed I'll do better this year than I've done before!