Those goals from the beginning of the year, yeah....

As I've been checking on the #MTBoS tag today (which I try to remember to do throughout the day on the 11th of each month), I realized that I've been bombing on some of my goals for the year.  :(

The things I've been great at keeping up with were sticking to my walkthrough schedules, getting more involved in educational policy, and I've done some impromptu co-teaching.  So that's 3 of my 6 goals that I'm keeping up with.

While I did organize my twitter deck on my surface I haven't used it as much but I've been a lot better about not going down rabbit holes when I'm checking out my feed.

One of my goals was to actually plan for, participate in and learn something from a Twitter Chat. So I have all these alerts on my calendar that go off each week or so reminding me of twitter chats going on but I keep ending up having different things going on or crazy cats and I haven't been able to participate in as many as I was hoping.  I think I've done 2 since my first one.  Maybe...  That's an improvement though, right?

The goal that I've totally bombed on is the keeping up with blogging.  :(  While I've been more active on twitter this year I'm still working on making it more consistent and not flooding my feed with too many pics of my foster cats.  Speaking of...  I have two precious brothers that still need their forever homes!  

Fingers crossed I can find these guys a home and get back on track with my goals for the year!

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!

#MTBoSBlaugust: Day 6 10th Song on Playlist

So jumping to my Workout Playlist (which is the only Playlist on my phone) and I found that Blondies "One Way Or Another" is my 10th song. Talk about a song that has so many memories for me!!!

The first song that I laughed to, really belly  laughed to was this song. It was back in 1981 or 1982 and my mom, brother and I were sitting in the front seat of my mom's car. My brother kept reaching over and tickling my stomach during the "I'm gonna getcha, gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha" parts and I just let out a total barrel laugh.

For the rest of my life I haven't been able to listen to the song without getting a huge smile on my face and even laughing.

It also reminds me of all the times I've pushed to find exactly whag I need for my job, education, classroom and life. I've searched high and low, near and far to get exactly what I needed in my personal and professional life.

- I found the perfect job to start with in an amazingly supportive environment
- I found the perfect next job after that to move me to the high school level with amazing coworkers
- I found the perfect grad school program while working and planning my wedding
- I found the perfect job post grad school with the exact position I dreamed of (I didn't even realize that it was really an opportunity!)

So "one way or another, I'm gonna" get what I want, I'm going to get what I need to be the best educator and teacher I can be!