July learning and sharing

I have been thinking and learning a lot this summer due to some awesome opportunities that honestly may only come around once in an educator's lifetime.  It all started with #summerspark and culminated this week with #edcampldr.  The National Family and Community Engagement Conference was the meat to the sandwich.  I have spoken a bit about each of these and find that right now that's all that I can do.  I am still processing the awesome experiences and how lucky I was to attend each of them.  At some point in time I'll be writing a blogpost about them but as of now I cannot put my thoughts down "on paper", or in blogger, but the time will come pretty soon, I'm sure.  Until then, feel free to stop in and chat.  I'm at school most days in the morning except for when I have to take Lauren to Driver's Education classes.  Man, she is growing up so fast!

Tweets, blogs, and quotes
Helping struggling leaders (from ShakeUpLearning)
"As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation-- either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force.  I decided to follow the latter course."- Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights activist
Let's stop faking it (Tweet from me which includes a link to @Joe_Mazza's blog about depression in education)
"Don't bring negative to my door."- Maya Angelou, poet, author and performer
"Those who love you are not fooled by the mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself.  They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused."- Alan Cohen, author
"Always go with your passions.  Never ask yourself if it's realistic or not."- Deepak Chopra, author and public speaker
"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it.  The time will pass anyway."- Earl Nightingale, radio personality and motivational speaker
Leading through choice (from @ajjuliani- A great post about connecting on social media and how it leads to greater connections in person.)
#mertonint
@mertonint

Meemic grants
Don't forget about the Meemic grants for educators.  Here is a link to access the short application process.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.  The deadline for applications is September 30th.

Missouri GAFE Summit
Although I didn't attend this event, I did look through many of the presentations and thought I would share the link with all of you.  There is a lot here for "beginners" up to "advanced" and may appear to be quite overwhelming, but tuck it away some where for later use when you're looking for some advice.

EduSync
So I was on twitter the other day (It's shocking, right?) and I came across this calendar that will soon be able to sync with Google Classroom.  Tina and I are looking for a couple of staff to test this out.  After you have a chance to look it over, please let Tina and I know if you are interested.  Here's the link to check it out.  Thanks for taking a look.

Schedules
Next week I will be sending out an email dedicated solely to our schedule for next year.  I will be explaining the reasons behind the schedule being organized the way that it is.  I took many of your suggestions into account but was unable to meet all of your requests.  I would be more than willing to meet with you, either individually or as teams, any day next week.  Thanks for your patience.

Face to face

"Make time to walk around the office to talk to people face to face.  Your team needs to hear from you personally."

Jen sent this quote to me three and a half years ago.  I have kept it in my inbox all along, referring to it as a reminder to get out of my office and into classrooms.  The three learning experiences that I mentioned to start the blog have made this quote even more powerful.  During each experience, I met people that heretofore I had only spoken to via Google Hangout, Voxer, or Twitter.  The power of the face to face conversations and connections deepens the relationships and the sharing to an entirely different level.  I know that I preach about social media and the connections I have made through those mediums, but deeper relationships happen face to face.  They can start on social media and continue on social media, but the power of face to face conversations can never be underestimated.  As the summer continues along, I'd love for each of you to find 30 minutes to stop in and talk about anything- your family, last year, next year, the summer.  Just shoot me an email or text or vox or tweet and let's set up a time to chat.