Too Much Time on My Hands

If you're not already singing this, then clearly you aren't nearly as old as I am. Or maybe it's just that you haven't heard the magic of Styx. Either way, let's start off with a little music to get your toes tapping!

You can thank me later for that ear worm.

But seriously, having a lot of time on your hands can be a blessing or a curse. For me it's been a blessing because I'm doing a ton of reading and learning since the whole broken foot thing has the rest of my activities relatively limited. I have a little notebook where I've been taking notes on all of the great ideas I've learned in books, from blog posts, and from Twitter. My mind is racing with all of these ideas and resources and how they might look in my classroom this coming year.

But all of that learning can also be a curse. Because let's be honest. Once I learn something and get excited about it, then of COURSE I need implement it in my classroom. Anything else would be a waste of all of that wonderful learning. But today, I had a little aha moment as I was thinking about all of the things that I already have written in my notebook and all of the ideas racing around in my mind.

I can't do it all.

If I try to do it all, I am going to feel like I'm not doing anything well.

If I try to do it all, I'm going to feel like I'm failing.

If I try to do it all, I'm going to give up.

I'm not sure if any of you are like me, but this is a pretty big realization. I tend to push myself -- okay, I push myself, and I'm super hard on myself when I don't think I'm doing things the way I believe they should be done. So putting the brakes on today was a pretty huge step for me, and now I need to think about my new learnings through a different lens. I'm thinking about what exactly will be happening this year:

1. I know that I am going to have a cart of Chromebooks for my classroom to begin piloting our 1:1 program.

2. I know that I started dabbling in the station rotation model at the end of last school year, and I loved how it felt. 

3. I know that I am expected to start using Schoology in preparation to teach my colleagues how to use it as we move to a 1:1 school.

Just those three things are a monumental task for one school year because within the idea of the 1:1 program and the personalized learning that comes with the station rotation model, there are lots of activities to adjust and technology to learn. Rather than continuing to pile on the new learnings and new ideas, I really need to focus on being successful (or failing forward) with these three things so that I can reach my goal for student success and personalized learning and help my colleagues feel confident and successful as they begin to implement personalized learning in their classrooms.

I hope if you have too much time on your hands this summer that you learn many wonderful things, but you remember that you don't have to do all of them in your classroom. Being really successful with one or two meaningful changes can make a much bigger impact than trying to do a lot of things halfway.