Peaceful Quiet (Slice of Life Day Twenty-Three)

Tonight was one of those rare occasions where the husband had to work tonight, there were no meetings to attend, no dinner plans with friends and no pressing housekeeping to be done.  Nick over at TheNerdyTeacher posted a "Mission Monday" blog about taking the time for educators to do something nice for themselves.  So I snapped up the opportunity to have a "Mary Night". 

I decided to turn off the cell phone ringer while I accomplished 3 things I have been wanting to do uninterrupted and in almost silence for awhile.  I felt giddy as I changed my settings from "normal" to "silent"!  I did feel a twinge of guilt at the thought of maybe missing my mother call, or an important work call, but quickly quieted that thought with "So let them leave a voicemail!"

I then proceed to complete a 30 minute session of yoga on Wii Fit Plus and focused on my desire to get better at making working out a priority for me.  I did turn the sound down to as soft as I could get it but still being able to hear the instructor.  It took a lot of work though to get my brain focused on yoga and not on other things.  I had to tell myself to be quiet!

After that I prepared my favorite thing to eat - noodles!  Nothing fancy here people, just buttered noodles with some parmesan cheese.  I did not turn on the TV or iPod.  I did not check email, Twitter or my Google Reader.  I did not make the most of my time and try to squeeze in a housekeeping chore like unloading the dishwasher.  I stood there and watched the water boil and listen to the sounds outside.

As I ate my yummy noodles I opened a new book that I have been wanting to start for a few days and started reading with a vengeance.  The silence of the house enveloped me and I got lost in the world of the story.  Little did I know but 30 minutes had passed when I noticed it getting a little bit harder to see the pages because of the lack of light in the room.

Thanks Nick for encouraging me to take time for me!

Getting My Head Together

Ok, I know it has been a LONG time since I posted anything on this blog. I started the school year with BIG ambitions thinking I could be a one-woman-tech-hero. Yeah, not so much!

The school year started off a little rocky with all our new upgraded technology having some major glitches. I turned from helping teachers integrate technology to a IT person overnight. This was a not short-lived unfortunately and I felt like I was drowning. But, that experience taught me so much about how computers and networks work! I am able to troubleshoot so much more now independently. So needless to say, I felt like I was baptized by fire in this new role and actually glad I went through that experience.

After the rocky start to the year I felt like I was on a slick water slide with the amount of new educational technology tools I was being subjected to by my students, my district coordinator of technology information, my colleagues and my new found PLN. My head was spinning with excitement at all the possibilities! Every day I felt like I was learning about a new tool that I could help teachers utilize.

I know it is a few days early to make New Year's Resolutions but I am anxious to get a jump start. Here is my professional resolution for the new year: I want to post at least one blog a week about a new tool I utilized with students and/or teachers or about an experience integrating technology with students and/or teachers. To me this is a small goal since there are some many opportunities that pop up during the school day that I could blog about. I hope by starting small I will be successful!

To all the people in my PLN: you have truly inspired me and pushed me professional this school year and I can not wait to continue you to learn from you and share with you!