I always have lofty goals to catch up on all of my "fun" reading during summer vacation, but there always seems to be a conference to go to, family to visit, masters classes to complete, or any number of other projects that got put off during the school year to do before my reading. I recently saw a post on the Nerdy Book Club blog about a contributor's goal for herself and her family to each read a book a day during summer vacation. 

I thought to myself, "Wow that is crazy, I could never do that, how do they find the time to read and do other fun stuff?" But as I read more and more of the post, it started making more sense, and I started thinking, "I CAN do this!" Sometimes you read more than one book in a day, sometimes it is a small book, but a book each day can be done. Donalynm (the post's author) posted these rules for the #bookaday challenge:

• You set your own start date and end date.

• Read one book per day for each day of summer vacation. This is an average, so if you read three books in one day (I know you’ve done this!) and none the next two, it still counts.

• Any book qualifies including picture books, nonfiction, professional books, audio books, graphic novels, poetry anthologies, or fiction—children’s, youth, or adult titles.

• Keep a list of the books you read and share them often via a social networking site like goodreads or Twitter (post using the #bookaday hashtag), a blog, or Facebook page. You do not have to post reviews, but you can if you wish. Titles will do.

So, I make it my goal to read a book a day. Some will be fun, some will be professional (6 more classes until the masters is done!), and all will be glorious. I started by challenge yesterday and I aim to finish it toward the end of July, I do have to plan for next year's classes at some point. That will get me over 50 books this summer.

Here is a link to my running tally. Check back here or on Twitter for updates!

As the first bell of the school year swiftly draws near I can't help but take a few moments to reflect back on the past year and where I was at this time one year ago. I never would have imagined how much my life would change in 365 days. Last year was full of first experiences and lessons learned, for the students and even more importantly, for me!

At the end of the day I learned to reflect on what happened, to glean the good from the bad and decide what to do differently the next day. Each day taught me something new, whether it was a different technology tool or a student teaching me something new about the community in which I was teaching. 

Professionally I have had the opportunity to grow by leaps and bounds. I learned so much by doing rather than relying on what I learned in school. As I have stated before I have used Google products for years, but never to the degree in which I have this past year. Having the opportunity to attend the Great Plains Google Apps for Education Summit the past two summers has taught me so much. Many of my experiences with Google have been trial and error, but many have gone swimmingly well. 

As part of our ESU here in Nebraska, I have the opportunity to be part of a Technology Integration Group (TIG). Two educators from every district in the ESU attend session four times a year to learn new technologies and then take them back to our districts. It is our job to learn and teach those around us the tools to help make technology go from something that is just additive to something that enhances student learning and achievement. Because of poking and prodding from the leadership of the group, I am going to be a presenter at the Fall Ed Tech Conference in Kearney, NE, talking about my experience integrating Google Apps for Education into my classroom this past year.

Twitter, oh how I wish I had heard your swan song years ago. In undergrad I always thought it was just another social media site for status updates. After more poking and prodding from the TIG leadership and our elementary principal, I set up an account and started following a few educators they recommended. Once I saw the power of the network I haven’t looked back. I still don’t constantly watch my feeds, but I spend 5-10 minutes a day browsing and collecting the information that is useful to me. In a year’s time, I’ve sent over 600 tweets and had some great conversations that led to ideas and partnerships I never would have formed otherwise.

Changes are in the works this year, I have two new classes and plans to change up several others. So much for the second year being any easier with repeated lessons! Because I know my students better after working with them for a year, I feel more comfortable taking more risks and trying new things.

With my seniors we are going to start Passion Blogs this year once they get their computers back. Each student will set up a Google Site and start free writing something they are passionate about, whether it is farming, politics, fashion, or sports. Check back in the middle of September for links to their pages to post comments and encourage them to keep writing.

With my sophomores, I am completely restructuring their class to make it more thematic rather than genre specific. With junior English, the government teacher and myself plan to co-teach 1984 by George Orwell and complete some cross-curriculum projects.

And then there is writing. We have a school-wide improvement goal to increase our writing scores. I have volunteered to be the core subject contact to help other teachers in the building incorporate writing into their curriculums. I have the opportunity to teach the 7th and 8th grade students one semester each about writing structures and genres. It is scary and a big commitment, but something that will be good for the students and help me grow as an educator.

A good first year last year and I’m looking forward to an even better one this year!

Let that bell ring.

 

I've been a user of Gmail for years, I even had Google Docs back when it was literally just Docs and not the whole Drive suite. However, I never really appreciated the power of Google Tools until I started working with Google Apps for Education last year when my school adopted the platform for use. Now I don't think I could ever go back to life without Drive and instantly having all my documents in one place no matter which device I am on (2 computers, 2 iPads, 1. GAFE are easy to use and have just enough features for basic everyday use, true you can't do complicated formulas in Spreadsheets like you can in Excel, but for most daily tasks in the classroom, they work wonderfully. Over the next couple of weeks, keep checking in to my Google Apps for Education (GAFE) tips page. On this page, I detail how I have been using Google tools in my classroom.

Welcome to Musings in the Margins! I'm excited to join the blogosphere. Creating a blog has been on my to-do list since I attended the 2012 Great Plains Google Summit almost a year ago, but something I never found time for in my first year of teaching. As I start my masters program this summer working towards a School Librarian degree, alas, creating a blog happens to be the last assignment. So, finally I have to commit and make the plunge! I envision this as a space for educators and students alike to come and find ideas and inspiration in their reading and writing adventures.

A little about the title of the blog, Musings in the Margins. We rush around from day to day worrying about work and family and friends never taking time to slow down and think about what is going on in and around the text of our lives. Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines muse in this way, "to become absorbed in thought." Times are changing and it seems like there is never enough time for the one extra task or request put on us, let alone to become lost in thought. However, if we take the time to slow down and really think about the words in the text of our lives, we might find the true meaning of our passions in life or how one event connects to the next in our life to form the person we have become. The margins of teaching are what this blog focuses on. I sometimes get so caught up in the moment of class and lesson planning and extracurricular activities, I forget what it means to teach and why I chose this as my profession. Join me as I step back and look in the margins of teaching to see what is really important in the classroom and for the students.