Mrs. Ruiz

Welcome Screens

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Mrs. Ruiz

My son was a fully online learner a couple of years ago before most students were forced to become online learners due to COVID-19. I had chosen to enroll him in an online school for 7th and 8th grades to help with some of the struggles he was facing. I have never regretted that decision. My son made great gains in online school and gained the foundation I hoped he would when transitioning to traditional high school. Those two years were a learning experience not only for my son, but for my family. As I supported him and observed his “live lessons” I noticed a commonality from teacher to teacher that I found comforting. That commonality was how they started their lessons. My son was always to log into his live lessons at least 5 minutes early. He would be admitted to his classroom where he would be presented with a screen his teacher was presenting. That screen could have any number of things on it, but mainly it was a welcome screen. There would be music playing, and a message posted from the teacher. Sometimes it would be a question to think about before diving into a lesson, or a warm up, or a conversation starter for the students to chat about in the chat pod. All of it helped to build that much needed classroom community.

That being said I got to thinking about how the teachers at my school could accomplish the same thing when they don’t have access to the same tools. Considering what they do have access to, I found they could create a welcome screen using their district issued devices using Google Slides, the Bitmoji Chrome extension, Classroomscreen (free version) and Zoom. Here is a sample of the end result:

Sample Welcome Screen

So here is how you create something like my sample for your Zoom classroom.

1. Watch this video on creating your own Bitmoji Virtual Classrom:

2. Save your newly created Bitmoji Virtual Classroom as a PNG

When in Google Slides, click the File menu, then select Download, then PNG image. Why PNG and not JPEG? Image quality.

3. Classroom Screen

I have mentioned Classroomscreen to my teachers before and I am going to mention it again. It really is a wonderful free resource to give you a screen to project to your class that is very customizable. The Classroomscreen website is very user friendly and clearly explains its features. It’s worth a visit and a read. You can do plenty with a free account, so there is no need to subscribe if you don’t want to.

Once you have launched Classroomscreen, you can upload the virtual Bitmoji classroom you created. You do that by clicking the Background button on Classroomscreen:

Classroomscreen comes with many wonderful backgrounds built in.

You will then get a window that looks like this:

Here is where you can click Uploads, and upload the Bitmoji classroom you created. Once you have uploaded it, it will show as an option, click it and it becomes your new background!

Then insert the components you would like to use. I used the text feature, calendar and timer. They are all accessible on a toolbar at the bottom of Classroomscreen.

Once you have set up your Classroomscreen you are ready to use it!

4. Start your Zoom meeting and share your screen

Don’t forget to enable computer audio sharing so you can play your favorite kid friendly music in the background. Students love music and when I was in the classroom I had fun streaming all kinds of school appropriate music for my students. In my sample above I was streaming Kids Radio on Pandora. But you could use your preferred music streaming service or music files saved on your computer. I would make sure whatever you choose to stream is commercial free.

You are now ready to welcome your students with a fun welcome screen when they enter your virtual classroom! You may want to have your own mic muted and camera off while you settle in, but be sure to keep an eye on your class.

I would love to hear how this goes for those who try it. Please share with me in the comments below!

General

Building the plane…

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Mrs. Ruiz

As this school year gets off to a start, many (if not all) of the educators I work with feel as though it is their first year of teaching all over again. Whether you have 30 years or 3 years in education, welcome to your FIRST year as an online teacher. Many of us have never been (or wanted to be) an online teacher. Unfortunately we didn’t have a choice, so here we are thrust into the world of online teaching and learning.

As a longtime proponent of educational technologies and digital citizenship, I found myself looking forward to making the best of a bad situation. Now is our chance to really harness the power of technology in education. I know there are many educators and families who hate having to be online. I acknowledge and respect that. This post is not about the pros and cons of online learning. We are here now, so let’s make the most of it.

My school has now completed its 2nd week of distance education. I have visited a number of our teachers in their virtual classrooms and I am very proud of all of them. And I am impressed at how well all of our students are doing in managing Zoom and learning new norms, especially our youngest students. I really shouldn’t be amazed that many of our students are handling distance learning rather well, they are what some would call “digital natives” and they have amazing families that support and guide them.

I find myself enjoying the opportunities this situation is creating where I can support my teachers and help them approach teaching in new ways. Distance education is taking me back to my tech coaching days and the days where I wanted to be an instructional technology teacher on assignment. I want to help as many educators as possible, not only those at my current site, but those I have worked with over my 20+ years as an educator. So with that being said, I will begin to share out some of the things I hope will help. Like my next post about creating a welcome screen for your virtual classroom.

General

Yet Another Chapter

Posted on July 24, 2020July 24, 2020 by Mrs. Ruiz

I suppose books are filled with many chapters and if I am viewing my career as a book, then I should not be surprised to find some chapters are longer than others.

My last post here was when I began my career as an administrator with the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District. When I joined YCJUSD I was fully prepared to spend many years there, just as I had done in the Fontana Unified School District before them, where I spent 18 years. Sadly, declining enrollment and budget issues made it so the decision was made to eliminate my position as elementary assistant principal at the end of the 2019-2020 school year. It was that experience coupled with my own experiences as a classroom teacher at the elementary level that reminded me what a luxury it is to have an assistant principal at the elementary level even a few days a week.

Being the assistant principal for Valley Elementary & Chapman Heights Elementary schools in Yucaipa was an amazing experience, and a very positive one. I had two amazing principals with very different leadership styles who served as excellent mentors and role models. I also had two amazing staffs, brimming with talented professionals at all levels that enriched each and every day I spent with them. I couldn’t have asked for or dreamed of better.

When I was informed that I would be losing my position, I was offered a classroom placement. I served as a classroom teacher for 15.5 years, I chose the administration path and as a result I chose to remain on that path. It didn’t take much looking at all before I happened upon the Central School District in Rancho Cucamonga, and it wasn’t long before I was offered a position.

March 2020 kicked off a whirlwind for me like no other. I was leaving my job in Yucaipa much sooner than I could have ever guessed, there is a global pandemic resulting in closures of all the things we are used to and enjoy as a society, I was job hunting, I was participating in numerous Zoom interviews… I am grateful and feel very fortunate to have been invited to join the Central School District as one of their newest assistant principals, and more specifically to join the community of Coyote Canyon Elementary School.

Thank you to all those who have supported me, mentored me, encouraged me and loved me through all of this. Without you I don’t know where I would be.

General

A New Chapter

Posted on August 7, 2018August 7, 2018 by Mrs. Ruiz

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I have been quiet on my blog for many reasons, but the main one being that I was working toward another shift in my career as an educator. I became aware that my position as a Teacher on Assignment was not going to be continued into the next school year, so I was looking at going back into the classroom. That prospect was exciting to me. I am an educator, how could it not be?

For the past 2.5 years as a teacher on assignment working out of the central office, I realized that I missed being at a school site. I missed being a part of a school community. I missed seeing the kids each day, collaborating with my fellow educators, talking with school staff, celebrating successes, and addressing challenges. Since I am working on my doctorate in educational leadership, it made sense to me that I would look to return to a school site as an administrator. I had been interviewing for months with no offers so I had figured my return to a school site would be in the classroom. Since I wanted my return to a school site to be a new adventure for me, I asked Human Resources to place me at a middle school since I was well aware my credential would permit me to teach at that level. I had been placed at a wonderful middle school, even toured the room I would have to teach 8th grade Language Arts and Social Studies, spoke with the principal several times, and met staff members. I did make the principal aware I was still interviewing for administrator positions, but those were coming to a close. Soon after I finished my final interviews, I was offered a position as an assistant principal at two elementary schools by my new district. I was excited to accept and am thrilled to be a part of something new. It wasn’t until I had to resign my position with my former district of 18 years that I realized I was truly beginning a new chapter. I suppose signing that resignation made it very real. I have no regrets. My former district taught me so much about being an educator and a leader. They hired me when no one else would and encouraged me when no one else did. I am indebted to them for providing me with such an amazing group of educators to work with and learn from.

When I first left the classroom I struggled with what to do with this site. While I posted some over my tenure as a teacher on assignment, I did not post as much as I would have liked. Now that I am returning to not one, but two school sites, I would like to think I could blog more regularly. I can’t promise that as I know how busy school administrators are, but I would like to try. It is my intent to share as much as I can as I transition from educator to administrator.

CCCWrite, Reflective Writing Club

Reflective Writing Club: The Impact of Digital Technologies

Posted on March 12, 2018 by Mrs. Ruiz

Reflective Writing Club Prompt 3:

Compare your current professional experiences with your professional experiences at the beginning of your career.

Discuss how digital technologies have impacted what you do professionally and how you do it.

Has your professional identity shifted at all as a result of the emergence of digital technologies? What about who you interact with and how you interact with them?

I became an educator in 2000 and have worked for the same school district for my entire career thus far. When I reflect on my professional experiences through the lens of digital technologies, the beginning of my career is vastly different than my more recent experiences.

One major difference that jumps to mind at the moment is the entire job hunting process. I recall having to fill out paper applications for a teaching job. Edjoin is used pretty extensively in my area (though I have been told that is not necessarily the case nationwide) and the automation of the application process has made it much easier to apply for more positions in a variety of locations. The use of EdJoin in my search for an administrative position has made it incredibly easy to cast a wide net. Too wide as my husband would complain, he has gotten rather used to me working very close to our home.

In terms of the classroom, things have changed tremendously. As a student I had some access to emerging digital technology, but that was very limited. Those experiences with technology are some of my most fond school memories. I even remember an instance where I had asked a teacher in upper elementary (somewhere between 4th and 6th grade) about using a computer she had in the back of the classroom. She wouldn’t let me for reasons I don’t exactly recall, but I do recall the machine was seldom (if ever) used. When I became a teacher myself decades later, it was surprising to see that not that much had changed. Instead of one or two machines in a room (if there was one at all) there was now 3 or 4…for classes of 20-30 students. There weren’t any computer labs yet so it was a real challenge to give students the exposure to digital technologies that I felt they needed.

My family had always been rather techie. We got our first family computer in 1992, though I had been exposed to computers for a few years already in school. I had been exposed a little to computers in upper elementary and even more so in intermediate school. I recall distinctly being enrolled in the one computer class they offered and working both with MS-DOS as well as Apple lle (which was nearly 5 year old technology at the time). My family moved just after intermediate school ended. It wasn’t particularly traumatizing for me, though like most kids I would have preferred we not move so I could go to high school with my friends. My new high school was fine and they offered a computer class too, where I got to work with newer machines and the variety of productivity programs available at the time. I distinctly remember getting to make a flyer…for what I don’t recall, but it was a very enjoyable learning experience.

College took my use of technology to a whole new level. I recall how important it was for them to promote that they had multiple computer labs…some strictly Apple and some strictly Windows. It was during college that my parents got me my own machine…an all in one. The brand escapes me now, but I know I really wanted an Apple iMac and I think I may have gotten a Compaq (price likely the reason).

I feel like I have fallen down a nostalgic technology hole and am veering off topic. So let me refocus. College took my use of digital technologies to a whole new level. Emails and preparing my coursework digitally became the norm. Social media wasn’t huge back then…tho I did have a MySpace account before I had a Facebook account, but I think that came a bit later. (Note: MySpace was created in 2003 and I graduated from college in 1996.) Online applications weren’t huge yet so my job hunt once returning home from college was rather traditional. While I recognize this post is to do with professional identity through digital technologies, I have to acknowledge that I first began building a digital identity for myself via America Online. That experience was completely new and one many learned by doing. There weren’t all these handy sites explaining the importance of online safety and whatnot, though I found if you used your common sense you could stay out of trouble online. I didn’t truly begin to develop my professional online identity until I launched my own class website in 2005 (this one, though it looked much different back then) and got active with Discovery’s Educator Network. That was another point in my digital learning that greatly accelerated my understanding of digital technologies and how to use them effectively as an educator.

My professional identity is always evolving, thanks to digital technologies. I have more recently began to use my online professional identity to network with other educators across a variety of platforms. My biggest difficulty is keeping up with all of them and continuing meaningful conversations with everyone, but I doubt I am alone in that. With how easy digital technologies have made it to communicate globally, it is very easy to get swept away by the tide of information.

How have digital technologies impacted you?
Share with me in the comments below 🙂

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CCCWrite, Reflective Writing Club

Reflective Writing Club: Conferencing

Posted on March 5, 2018 by Mrs. Ruiz

So much for keeping up with new blogging prompts! I blame rewriting my dissertation prospectus and preparing myself for an effective job hunt as I work toward the next phase of my career. I really liked the premise of Michelle Pacansky-Brock’s Reflective Writing Club, so I am going to carry on anyway, even though the last prompt in her 6 week cycle was due on March 2nd.

Reflective Writing Club Prompt 2:

Discuss the role that attending conferences plays in your professional learning.

Reflect on one valuable conference experience you had and discuss why you found it valuable.

Let us know what happens once your conference experience is over.

Do you share what you’ve learned and, if so, how and with whom?

I love conferences. I would go to much more of them if I could afford to pay for them all. I am sure there are some educators and administrators out there whose employers pay for them to go to conferences, but that has not been the case for me. I think conferences are very valuable learning & professional development experiences that more educators and administrators should be able to go to.

My go-to conference of late has been ISTE . I am SUPER techie and love seeing all the different ways you can implement technology into education. I enjoy keeping myself in “the know” with what is going on with educational technology and the various ways innovators are using it to enhance academic experiences and outcomes for students.

Once the conference is over I internalize the information and move on. I recognize this is not the ideal way to process what has occurred. Ideally, I would love to put what I have learned together in a way to be of use to my colleagues. The trouble I have encountered is that is typically not the practice in my current work environment. That has everything to do with organizational culture which is a whole other topic. So rather than focus on that, I will make a departure into my own little world where educators get sent to conferences and return to their school sites and present what they have learned. In that alternate universe, I would have viewed ISTE through a site-specific or district-specific lens. I would target things that I knew my school/district needed, or the reasons they sent me in the first place. I would have absorbed everything about those relevant topics that I could have, networked with the right people, and synthesized information. Upon returning to my site/district I would put that information together in a way that was easy to digest. Being a lover of tech, I would more than likely have created a Sway that highlighted all the most relevant information and included links to supporting information. That Sway would be publically available to anyone who had an interest in what I had to share.

Do you get to go to many conferences? If you do go to conferences, how do you share what you have learned with others? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂

Reflective Writing Club

Reflection

Posted on January 30, 2018January 30, 2018 by Mrs. Ruiz

Ryker Rear View — I couldn’t resist using this as my post photo given that Michelle used one much like it in hers. What’s special about this photo is that it is one of my own. The dog is my sweet Red Lab Ryker.

Through my experience with Edublogs’ EduBlogsClub, I got to know some very interesting and insightful educator-bloggers. One of my favorites was Michelle Pacansky-Brock. Now that the EduBlogsClub prompts are done, she has started The Reflective Writing Club as a professional development offering from @ONE (Online Network of Educators which is the result of a grant from the California Community Colleges. Michelle has done an impressive job of crafting the learning experience – from setting up a learning management system to reminder emails, she hasn’t missed a beat. So while I had intended on catching up on my remaining EduBlogsClub posts, Michelle’s group started and I figured I would stay on track with that instead of falling behind.

The Reflective Writing Club Prompt 1:

Identify a time in your past and think critically about differences between then and now. How have you changed? What do you know now that you wish you had known then about yourself, your profession, other people, technology, or life in general?

What jumps to mind immediately for me with this prompt is me from three years ago versus me now. In 2015, I felt that after 15 years in the classroom it was time for the next stage in my career as an educator. I had long desired to become an instructional coach. I had applied many times within my own district over the previous 5 years, only to be rejected every time. 2015 was different, I was finally accepted by my district as a teacher on assignment/instructional coach. I was thrilled…and scared. I had an amazing position at an amazing school and I was about to give it all away for the unknown.

Over the past three years, I have suffered a lot of professional disappointment since leaving the classroom. I am careful about writing too much about them as it has always been of the utmost importance to me to keep things positive on my blog while being as authentic as possible. I have become more cautious, critical and closed since leaving the classroom as a result of what I have experienced. So what would I have told my 2015 self? Get ready for a very bumpy ride. Learning and growing isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Don’t become cynical and don’t give into the sadness. Remain the optimist you are and know that there is always light after the dark. Everything happens for a reason, and it is up to you to make the most of life’s lessons.

Mountain Goat — Since Ryker kicked off this post, it was only fair he would close it. He has been a source of comfort on so many levels.

Reflections

You Learn Something New Every Day

Posted on January 15, 2018January 15, 2018 by Mrs. Ruiz

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day…a national holiday in the United States. As an educator, I have taught countless 2nd – 5th graders about Dr. King. As I took in all the media coverage about this important holiday today, there was a part of the history behind this holiday that I had been completely unaware of – the significance of a song written by Stevie Wonder that I had never taken the time to truly process.

The only parts of this song I ever really heard was the chorus, and I thought this was just a more ‘modern’ way to sing Happy Birthday, as there are a variety of takes on this classic tune. But the parts of the song that aren’t the chorus are very significant:

You know it doesn’t make much sense
There ought to be a law against
Anyone who takes offense
At a day in your celebration
‘Cause we all know in our minds
That there ought to be a time
That we can set aside
To show just how much we love you
And I’m sure you would agree
It couldn’t fit more perfectly
Than to have a world party on the day you came to be

I just never understood
How a man who died for good
Could not have a day that would
Be set aside for his recognition
Because it should never be
Just because some cannot see
The dream as clear as he
That they should make it become an illusion
And we all know everything
That he stood for time will bring
For in peace our hearts will sing
Thanks to Martin Luther King

Why has there never been a holiday
Where peace is celebrated
All throughout the world
The time is overdue
For people like me and you
Who know the way to truth
Is love and unity to all God’s children
It should never be a great event
And the whole day should be spent
In full remembrance
Of those who lived and died for the oneness of all people
So let us all begin
We know that love can win
Let it out don’t hold it in
Sing it loud as you can

We know the key to unity all people
Is in the dream that you had so long ago (happy birthday)
That lives in all of the hearts of people (happy birthday)
That believe in unity (happy birthday)
We’ll make the dream become a reality (happy birthday)
I know we will (happy birthday)
Because our hearts tell us so (happy birthday)

I started my educational experience in the 80s, I am not ashamed to say that it was 1979 when I entered kindergarten. It seems odd to me that I attended school before the holiday in honor of Dr. King was official. It wasn’t until I was in the 6th grade that the holiday honoring Dr. King was officially observed. There is a great post about this bit of history written by Marcus Baram that has all the details, but it just amazes me how you really can learn something new every day, even about a subject like Dr. King and everything he stood for and his memory continues to stand for. Happy Birthday to you Dr. King!

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Edublogs

Digital Citizenship

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Mrs. Ruiz

digital citizenship EduBlogsClub Prompt #28:

Prompt: Write a post about digital citizenship

How do you teach students about being good digital citizens and appropriate behavior on the web?

Have you had any specific experiences related to students, behavior, and the web?

How do you think that digital citizenship is related to in person citizenship?

What would you add to the list of digital citizenship elements and why?

How have positive and/or negative experiences online influenced your digital citizenship values?

Digital citizenship has always been important to me as an educator. I recall very clearly the last year I was in the classroom (2015), that I promised myself I would make digital citizenship a priority despite the lack of significant technology in my classroom. My students deserved it. They needed online skills. What I mean by lack of significant technology is that my classroom of 30ish 4th graders had 4 desktop computers and we had computer lab time for only a fraction of the school year when state testing or district testing was not occurring.

Despite the lack of a 1:1 or a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative, I was able to teach digital citizenship. A safe way to do this was the use of Edmodo. It was safe for me as an educator because it was a district approved site and designed for student use. I took computer lab time to teach my students the ins and outs of Edmodo and they were very excited to use it. Because of our limited tech situation during the school day I fully expected most of the true interactions to happen at home where students were free to use their own devices. And use their own devices they did! It amazed me how quickly some of my students became cyber-bullies. It was shocking really and a very teachable moment. I would monitor Edmodo anytime I had the chance to, which meant several times a day during the school day as well as during my own time. I would then deal with any troubling issues like cyber-bullying as well as praise students for their creative ways of using the online setting in a positive way and related to their studies. I would always take a bit of class time to highlight things on Edmodo I had observed, the good and the bad. Mind you, I was careful to avoid publicly shaming students who had succumbed to cyber-bullying, but I did not avoid talking openly about it. We had very healthy conversations in class about what was good online behavior and what was not. I think it helped students to better understand what was bullying behavior and what was productive online behavior. It also helped students connect online interactions to their educations and not strictly social places to goof off.

I have been an ISTE member for a long time and have even managed to attend a couple of ISTE conferences. I highly recommend membership for all 21st Century Educators. They have amazing standards for Administrators, Educators, and Students that truly and clearly outline what sorts of goals we should have in all of those roles in today’s educational landscape. It has been the ISTE standards for students that has guided my instruction and motivated me to be creative and not let my limited resources prevent the instruction of digital citizenship.

I have been fortunate to have had many incredibly positive experiences online. The various platforms that exist to broaden our horizons and truly make us all global citizens is astounding. I want my students to be able to partake in that digital and global community and not only benefit from it, but contribute to it. That is why I teach digital citizenship with every opportunity I get.

Since I no longer have my own classroom, I have one active and ongoing student, my son: a 7th grader at Connections Academy, a public online charter school. Digital citizenship is a daily occurrence for him as his entire school day is spent online. He attends live lessons daily, which look more like interactive webinars for those familiar with such things. He interacts with his friends online as well, largely via Skype and whichever online game they happen to be playing.

Choosing online school was a family decision and took some rearranging of our lives. First and foremost I did not feel he was benefiting from what I call a “traditional” schooling within my own school district. Others in the online schooling community call it “brick and mortar” schooling. Either way, my son was falling through the cracks and also had to deal with escalating bullying. To make matters worse, he was officially diagnosed with depression and anxiety. As an online learner myself (I completed my second Masters degree online and am currently working on my doctorate online), and someone passionate about online learning, I knew this was a viable option for my son’s education. I believe online learning has been successful for my son and my family thus far (we started this school year). It did require my mother moving back in with us (which she was going to do anyway) so that my son could have some supervision during the day while my husband and I are at work. However, I have never had his schooling be so transparent. I know exactly what he is working on and how to swiftly and easily reach his teachers. His current grades are only a click away and always up to date. My son is using technology all day long which is helping his digital citizenship skills tremendously and helping him work on the other standards that ISTE outlines for students.

I don’t believe the teachable moments I have with my son about digital citizenship are any different than I had with my students in the classroom. The only difference is perhaps I am a bit more direct with my son as the filter that teachers need to use with children that are not their own is not necessary when it comes to talking to my own child.

How do you teach digital citizenship to your students? How do you teach it to your children? Is it the same? Different?

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Edublogs

Celebrate and Reflect

Posted on January 1, 2018January 1, 2018 by Mrs. Ruiz

celebrate and reflect #EduBlogsClub Prompt #40:

Prompt: Celebrate and Reflect

Some of the topics you might like to discuss this week include:

Goals: What are your blogging goals and how have these changed over the year?

Achievements: What are you proud of?

Benefits: What do you see as the benefits of blogging? Has it been worthwhile for meta-cognition? Relaxation? Building community? Gaining new insights?

The future: How would you like your blog to evolve?

While we won’t keep publishing weekly prompts, anyone is still welcome to respond to any of the previous prompts. We will still be monitoring comments so would love to hear from you and read your posts.

Happy New Year!

I have been spending the past several weeks thinking about how I wanted to use my website and getting back on track with the posts from the EduBlogsClub challenge that I have not completed. It seemed fitting to take the last post in the series and use it at the start of a new year. I am not one for resolutions, but I do enjoy reflecting on the the year and thinking about what went well and what could have been done better. I have to say I am going to miss the regular challenges, I did enjoy the prompts, but I guess this is sort of a training wheels moment…off they come! I will remain a follower of EduBlogs of course, I think they do great work and while I never got to use them with my own students, I would recommend them to any educator looking to blog with students or to start their own blog.

What are your blogging goals and how have these changed over the year?

My only blogging goal last year was to complete the EduBlogsClub challenge. While I did not complete all the posts in 2017, I will be completing all the posts as I move into 2018, so I won’t count that goal as a fail. 😉

What are you proud of?

I am proud that I made it through the majority of the EduBlogClub prompts! As of this post I was able to complete 29 out of 40 prompts. I am very pleased with that and I know the other 11 will be complete in the coming weeks. Once this post is live I will only have 10 more prompts to complete!

What do you see as the benefits of blogging? Has it been worthwhile for meta-cognition? Relaxation? Building community? Gaining new insights?

I think blogging is very beneficial. It has certainly been worthwhile for meta-cognition, relaxation, building community and gaining new insights. I highly recommend blogging to anyone…not just educators and their students. I have always been one inclined to journal, but I have never been consistent with it. Perhaps I needed an audience to engage with and to learn from.

How would you like your blog to evolve?

That is a great question, and one I have given a good deal of thought. I left the classroom in 2015 and for the ten years before that my blog had been a communication tool I used with my students and their families. Once I left the classroom, I was unsure what the purpose of my blog would be and it was dormant initially. I then realized that my leaving the classroom was an opportunity to give my blog a new purpose and that is when I began the EduBlogsClub challenge. I am very grateful to them for posting such interesting prompts and for allowing me to be a part of their blogging community. As I transition from educator to aspiring administrator, I will continue to blog about topics related to education and continue to build my virtual professional learning community.

Thank you for reading and I wish you a 2018 full of opportunities and growth.

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