Where has the time gone?

I've been MIA from blogging for 4 YEARS!  I can't believe it's been 4 years since I last posted.  So much has happened to me both professionally and personally during this time it’s hard to know where to start.  I think I’ll work backwards starting with where I am now and what I’ve been up to.

2019-2020 School Year:

Currently I am closing out the school year as an Administrative TOA (Teacher on Assignment) at the High School Level!  YES!  You read that correctly.  I’m at the HIGH SCHOOL!

This is basically an Assistant Principal Internship.  My High School is quite large too!  Over 2,600 students in 9^th -12^th grades!  I’ve spent the year learning and growing in the roles of Dean of Discipline, Testing Coordinator, Safety and Security Lead, Assistant Athletic Director, Science Department PLC Administrator, and any other duty as assigned by my principal.  It’s been quite the year!  I’ve loved every minute of it! 

September 15, 2019:  I became GRANDMA for the second time to a beautiful little girl, Phoebe!  

2018-2019 School Year:

I stepped out of my comfort zone and moved up to Middle School!  I taught 7^th & 8^th Grade English Language Arts to students with disabilities.  I served students as a Co-Teacher and as a Resource Teacher.  I wanted experience teaching Exceptional Students as well as teaching at the secondary level.  It was a wonderful experience!  As I was looking to move into an Administrative Role, I didn’t want my only classroom experience to be at the elementary level.  I had to work hard to develop a positive growth mindset among my students.  They were so defeated with school and learning.  I relied heavily on John Hattie’s Visible Learning research of teaching strategies and practices with high effect sizes.  I also used much of what I learned at The Ron Clark Academy to motivate students and to bring a passion for learning into the classroom!  I’m sorry to say that I don’t have a single classroom photo!  I never got the chance to slow down long enough to snap a photo!  It was life in the fast lane for sure!

Summer of 2018: Trip to Hawaii!  After a grueling year of intense research and study my husband and I flew out to Oahu Hawaii to visit with our son who is stationed there.  I was a bucket list trip for sure! 

March 3^rd, 2018: I became GRANDMA for the first time to a handsome little boy, Jaxon!

2017-2018 School Year:

My husband and I spent this year completing our second master’s degrees in Educational Leadership. Yep, we did this TOGETHER!  We spent every Saturday from 8:00-5:00 in a classroom at Stetson University in Deland Florida for an entire year!  When we weren’t teaching, planning lessons, or grading papers we were spending hours and hours reading and writing about educational leadership!  There wasn’t much time for sleep let alone writing posts for my blog! 

2016-2017 School Year: This year was spent bringing life and excitement to my lessons and classroom.  Students were given a voice, were encouraged to STAND UP AND BE HEARD, and my classroom was transformed into different ESCAPE Rooms from Pirates to Superheroes! 

Well, that’s the last 4 years in a nutshell.  Hopefully I won’t take so long to post next time.  My goal is to use this blog as a self-reflection of what I am learning and how I’m growing as a leader in education.