Embrace Your Crazy Past, It Might Just Inspire a New Adventure.

Last night, I was in the company of some good friends, on a breezy balcony on the 23rd floor, overlooking the steamy humid city and KL skyline.  Life could be worse, that's for sure.

It being a Friday night after a busy week, it was easy for the conversation to go south and downward spiral into a bitch session about school but luckily we resisted and we spoke of motherhood, past locales, meeting our "person" and the spontaneous things we used to do.  Spontaneous things that largely shape us into who we are now today.  For me, it was leaving a steady paycheck, breaking contract and moving to Barcelona, because I knew that being single in a place where I was regularly told while running to stop because I would be kidnapped, was not a place I needed to be at that point in my life.  For another friend, it was the last minute decision to move to Tucson instead of Washington where she and her partner got a job immediately and ran a side gig of creating digital flipbooks at weddings and bar mitzvahs.  And another, who had made the decision to move to Mexico, shortly before meeting someone, who she ultimately let follow her even though she wasn't sure about the decision at the time.  The point is these big decisions are real and complicated and we often toil long and hard with what will be.. and it is.. And then we look back, we say I wish I could be that crazy again.

This leads me to think that we should be. Remember those moments you let yourself be vulnerable and try to drizzle, drop or throw that back into your life.  Within the last 24 hours, I considered the question.  "What is something that you want to do in the next 5 years that you could reasonably do that is nonconventional?" Have another child.. Maybe but boring.. Run the NYC marathon.. totally possible...Try a new career with food... It could happen if I applied myself.. But all of these were so individualized and really independent goals that I could do if I created that path for myself.  "Dig deeper" I told myself. I also realized I had to consider my family.  Now more than ever,  they are a priority and their happiness and involvement in my potential crazy actions is key.   And then it flew in like a feather magically floating in the air connecting the dots.   Sailing.  Andres likes to sail.  I want to learn.  What if we were somewhere I could take a sailing course?  What if in 5 years we decided to take a year off and sail? Why not? I could homeschool Pablo.  He would be old enough at that point. It's a crazy idea but not impossible.  And given that anything can change in seconds, shouldn't we be romanticizing endless possibilities at every moment possible?

So, I guess what I am trying to say is that we need to look fondly back on our pasts and take those moments to fuel spontaneity.  Our wisdom gained over the years will contain some of that impulse but this is a positive.  We can still be risk takers, we'll just be better at it. 

The Balancing Act: What Comes First? The Reality vs. the Desired.

This morning at 6:30 am, I was feeling like super mom.   Pablo was strapped to my chest in the baby bjorn, smiling at every soul who touched his delectable toes.  On the way to the cross country meet in which I was helping co-coach, he slept peacefully, I chatted with a new friend, quietly thinking to myself, "I got this."  And then 2 hours later, my world turned upside down.  I was at the race corral waiting to help organize the U9 runners and I had let a dear friend take care of Pablo for the last 30 minutes and she came running to me.  He was crying so my immediate thought was, he might be more hungry or he wants momma, but the reality was he was overheating in the Malaysian heat and I almost had a meltdown trying to find my baby a place to cool down.  30 minutes later we were in an air-conditioned office and I had to accept that I was only going to be able to do one thing in that moment in time and clearly, being a mom took priority.

What I realized from all this is that last thought "I had to accept that I was only going to be able to do one thing in that moment in time."  Being someone who has been a master multi-tasker for years, motherhood has put a big kink in that mastery.  I think it was my third day home when I was trying to do laundry, cook dinner and take care of Pablo all at the same time and really for no reason as I had a confinement nanny to help me that I realized, you have to let go and it's okay to not be in control of everything.   We are so spoiled to be able to afford help.  First, we were blessed with Shelley, a Chinese confinement nanny, that cooked beautiful healthy Chinese food for Andres and I for the first 28 days after I had Pablo and helped with putting Pablo to bed.  Everything she did essentially helped in making our lives as a family easier and I think we ended up being more chilled out parents because she was around.  Having her, gave me the power to realize that I can't be everything and that's completely okay.   Since then, we have had the incredible Cora, who brings more smiles to Pablo's face every morning.  With going back to work early, I don't think I could have found someone better that I truly trust to essentially part-time raise my child.   Nevertheless, being an older parent and having embraced my balanced, independent, compartmentalized life for so long,  I didn't realize that having a baby would actually force me to be even more balanced, but also prioritize.

Unfortunately, sometimes as an adult, we can't prioritize exactly how we would like. Being the working visa in our family meant going back to work sooner than planned. Being in a new position as ES learning specialist often puts me in three times as many meetings as before.  More than ever, I have to find the silver linings. It's cool that Pablo was born in Malaysia, and has one parent that works from home. It's amazing that ISKL included Pablo as a family member effortlessly with visas, insurance and other benefits.  And, it's good that this momma continues to get a number of intellectual challenges daily.  In addition, my new position helps me be a better leader and have more voice in student learning.   Silver linings are my medicine, this is my reality not a desire.

When I find out the perfect recipe for balance, I probably won't need it.  I'll be a millionaire living in a quiet beach town basking in the publication of my novel and writing a Spanish childrens series called Mananas Con Pablo.  Until then, wish me luck. 

Techie Awards September 2017 #edtechchat #inspired

Boom! Mr. Steve Katz @SteveKatz did a 5 minute Techie Awards at our school today.  It was a fresh way to engage teachers with the things that we are doing @ISKLproud and it was motivating to be better in tech.

So it's September 2017 and I am setting some personal goals for the school year.

• Instagram daily and follow people who have similar interests particularly around food, travel and photography
• Tweet at least three times daily.  These can be tweets or musings from me, from the work I am doing in classroom, from articles I read, in response to things we do each day or experience
• Blog at least one time a week about life, teaching and learning, being a mom, trips, etc
• Try a new tech tool each semester and actually use it: this one I am going to have to do some research on and find a teacher who I can work with to pilot this in their classroom or at the grade level #takerisks #trysomethingnew #lifelonglearner

I'll see you next week if not sooner.   In hopes that I get my lights switched on, sooner than later.  #lightitup #bethechange #inspire

DIY Literacy #cyberPD final reflections

What a great summer to be authentically inspired by this #cyberPD group.  I have only been coaching for a year and one of my biggest worries is that I will get behind my teachers in their instructional practices in literacy.  I try my hardest to be in the classroom for 2-3 hours a day and this upcoming year, I should be able to spend at least 4 hours in the classroom a day, now that the curriculum is mainly written and we are a road to implementation.  Having said that,  thanks to this group and a few other close reads I have done of other texts this summer: Amplify;  Reading Strategies; and a reread of Reading Pathways, I feel confident that I can go into next year and differentiate for my teachers and students better than ever.  #awesome

via GIPHY

Reflection on Chapter 5: The metaphor to yoga that Kate and Maggie drew was fabulous.  We constantly need to remind ourselves as teachers that we have tools to scaffold different abilities and needs.  Additionally, the basic reminder to keep things simple: use only a few tools, meet the students where they are, and do your best to model the level that you can determine they are ready to go to.  

The explicit DIY "how to" make a demonstration notebook is amazing.  I think it would be helpful for teachers to additionally carry a notepad, notebook, post-it stack etc, to jot down ideas that they collect to be demonstrated as they work with their kids and new teaching points emerge.

Finally, I have worked with the if/ then tools in writing this year in the WUOS and tried to also, use some of the suggestions with the RUOS.  I think that the individualized if/ then charts are great and could be delivered to specific groups as strategy lessons once teachers have assessed their needs pre-mid- and post.

The ultimate takeaway I had from this chapter is tools are great for differentiation.  It's important for teachers to master tools: to look at their purpose and how to use them at an individual, paired and group levels.  Being fluent in at least one tool will ideally help kids by creating more metacognitive awareness in their learning.

Reflection on Chapter 6: Things I want to try in 2016-17 school year! 
With my whole staff:  Metaphors for Life anchor charts
With my techies: Video boxes/ responses/ webchannels/ video response/ youtube channel, etc
With my organizers: Improving classroom set up to best meet student needs
With my nit-pickers: Working on improving one element of anchor charts
Just me: Making a number of demonstration notebooks for at least one reading/ writing unit per grade level!

DIY Literacy #inspired #cyberPD

Being in education, summer comes roaring in like waves, some are intense and action packed, others are quiet times where a book is your best friend.  This beautiful summer swept in softly, starting with a sweet winding down with half a week in Kuala Lumpur celebrating birthdays, getting massages and lunching amongst friends.  The other half of the week was spent diving in aquamarine waters with my soon to be married, often traveling partner in crime, Heather Rich.    The first week of summer was the perfect introduction to a summer about tuning into things I want and exploring at a leisurely pace.  After the islands, I feel to Barcelona for a whirlwind week of friends, wine, and walking.  It was so nice to be in the coastal climate and soaking in one of my favorite cities in the world.  From Barcelona, I zoomed off to DC, diving into a week of professional development, doing more work unpacking standards and revamping our literacy units.   Whereas, these last two weeks have returned to a little bit of quiet and time to do some work on aligning report card indicators and reading PD books such as Jennifer Serravallo's  Reading Strategies and Kate and Maggie Roberts', DIY Literacy. 

Due to my wonderfully tech literate and super ambitious colleague and friend, Erika Victor, I stumbled upon this group and since, I have drunkenly loved DIY Literacy,(meaning that I keep on getting amazing ideas from this book that I want to share and start asap) I thought I would participate in a few of the discussions. 

Reflection on Chapters 1 & 2 and bonus: The first chapter really reinforced the importance of tools. Tools that help scaffold but aid in independent thinking can help make our teaching better and improve student learning.  Students who use tools should be able to self-assess, goal-set, and adjust their tools to best approach their learning.    As I read through Chapter 2, the book gave me a smile because it was easy for me to make repertoire and process charts on post-it notes the way it was set up, which I may be able to break down simply for my teachers who don't want to read the whole book.   Every teacher knows that students learn through modelling and Kate and Maggie have done a good job modelling their tools in "how to" friendly ways, particularly for teachers who are accustomed to a workshop model.   Finally, in the third "bonus" chapter,  I was really struck by how all of these tools and strategies really go back to us being good teachers, which translates to: being lifelong learners, knowing our kids their academic and learning strengths, weaknesses and how-tos, and finally, being risk-takers and not being afraid to hold our students' hands as they take their own risks. 

The Tools: Loved the review and clear examples and how to structure of the tools.  Repertoire/ process charts are a familiar friend to me, as well as student generated bookmarks.  This past year, I worked with some teachers to also work on unpacking Lucy Calkins' reading progressions. After having read a lot about micro-progressions, I am ambitious to first try to familiarize kids and teachers more with the language of her reading progressions.  Once, we have achieved more familiarity with these progressions, I think teachers will be able to pull apart her progressions and write them with a more individualized tone to meet their students specific needs.  In the past, I have used conferring binders to help which have been helpful in writing more than in reading and I am anxious to play around with demonstration notebooks this year, particularly in some of the units I have taught a few times. 

My Big A-Ha: These days, I feel more confident conferring particularly in writing, than I have ever in my life.  As a literacy coach, I have to do it across 6 grade levels but am flexible and fluid in my choices.  Still the same, one thing that I have to watch myself on is the potential to cram too much into a conference.  I think that the micro-progressions could be a great tool with this issue as you would have your layers of complexity on the specific targeted skill but you could not detour from what was already there.  These tools are really differentiated for teachers and students.  It is natural for teachers to work with process/ repertoire charts and have kids devise their own relevant learning bookmarks, however, micro-progressions and demonstration notebooks start to hold students a lot more accountable for their learning in a great way. 

In closing... this book is leaving me inspired, there are post-its overflowing aside it, I am forming little repertoire/ process charts from the step by step processes Kate and Maggie have laid out. Additionally, I cannot wait to share this book with my curriculum coordinator and discuss the power of micro-progressions because I feel like they could be used authentically in a multi-disciplinary way and hope to do a back to school interactive presentation with the teachers on using them.  I would appreciate any ideas on what this might look like?  

When Earth Comes...in appreciation of Menorca

When Earth Comes....

How the earth penetrates my epidermis and 

Shoots lighting 

Through my body

Electrifying my veins

Seeping into my bloodstream

Funneling a melodious steam in my corps which

Evaporates off my pores and 

Circulates back into the ecosystem

How the water laps over my skin

Saturates my mind which

Manufactures thoughts and

Aches to be turned off painlessly.

How the heart twitches with the touch

of  heavenly form that

Exists only in your eyes

Possibly

How the moon illuminates your innocence

Shines the spotlight on your vulnerability

Lifts your soul into nirvana

This is how we remember how alive we really are. 

Reading, Raki and Randomness: Balkans 2014

So I found myself in a taxi with a man named Reef who was in his late 30s/ early 40s out of the Skopje airport at 12:30 in the morning.  He asked what an American was doing in Skopje, I replied with my story about a fascination with the Balkans as we turned down a dark highway.  The highway was vacant and looked like a potential kidnapping situation until the sign 20 km to Skopje was illuminated and I breathed a quick sigh of relief.

The next day I woke up and walked in circles until I found the lion bridge to cross into the Old town area,  a little mix of Turkish markets, Dubrovnik beige stoned streets and many men in colorful clothing lined the streets.  Later on, I approached the newer side of town and decided upon a trip to the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle.  Naturally, being the only visitor to the museum, I entered and paid my 5 euros and quickly was told, "You may not enter without a guide." To which I replied desperately, "But, it´s just me." And was rapidly reminded, "It´s the rules." So my tour guide put on his suit jacket and cleaned his glasses and we made our way into the hidden tours.  As he continued to tell me the marvelous and extensive story of the Macedonian struggle, I worked on making eye contact and nodding, thinking to myself, how the hell am I going to pay attention to this guy for the next two hours and get to understand what´s happening here?  Luckily, we were rescued by the desperation of the museum director for the solo English speaking guide to lead a tour of 50 random English speakers, and so they accompanied me as I learned about the many assassinations, territory claims and independence movement of Macedonians.  Later on, while being the only solo visitor at the City museum, the guide recommended a snack of Ayjur and Bosa and so went to the supermarket and indulged in some Macedonian splendor.

The next day, I woke up at 6 am and headed to Prishtina, Kosovo.  Kosovo is a place that less than 20 years ago was a center of struggle for between Albania and Serbia.  It wasn´t until recently, 2008 that it gained independence and not until 2013 that it was given complete authority to rule itself in Prishtina.  As I strolled down Bill Clinton Avenue, I was impressed with the life that was present in the streets.  Left, right and center, people were dining, taking coffees, artistic exhibitions, music festivals. I thought of the wealth of a country like Venezuela and the lack of life on the streets and how funny it is that Kosovo, a country with one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe seemed so alive and resilient.  The museum was an odd experience, sponsored by NATO, but lacking the signs of any of NATO´s money.  One had to wonder what´s the point.

Museum of History Kosovo

The next morning, I made myself to the capital of Albania, Tirana, a colorful city with the very odd Mumja discotheque, now art exposition, which used to actually host the Enver Hoxha museum.  Enver Hoxha was one of Albania´s fierce leaders from the mid 1940s to 1985.  He led the country through periods of resistance against Yugoslavia, unified with Communist Russia during the 1950s and even went so far to join the Maoists for a large part of the 1960s.  Tirana was a vibrant city, complete with many bunkers, rumored to be used for teenagers looking for a place to lose their virginity.  One would find the bridges lined with books and a well-planned city with greenery all around.   The history museum there was not such an adventure and without the help of the Lonely Planet, I wouldn´t have survived.  All in Albanian, I was not able to patch the pieces of the puzzle together as much as I would have liked.  I enjoyed an evening meal with a French friend, Silva, and we exchanged ideas about the lack of women in the city and the overall friendliness of Albanians but lack of willingness to discuss the past.

Kumja Discotheque, Tirana

Graffiti Art, Tirana

The bus to Berat the next morning was an interesting adventure.  A ride that normally takes 2.5 set us back 4 hours down dusty, gravel one way roads.  It appeared that I was appearing to enter the more "Wild West" of Albania.  Berat, a historical city that in the past was known as one of the major capitals of the Ottoman Empire, was a picturesque town built into the city.  Although, I am not really sure what else was happening there.  I walked around for about 2 hours through the downtown and saw a handful of people.  "All the people are at the beaches," said the hotel manager and so, that´s where I headed.

Berat, Albania

Berat, Albania

 The next morning on a bus ride to Saranda, Albania, I finished my fourth book over the last 5 days.  When traveling alone, you have a lot of time for contemplation, reading and relaxation and so I indulged while the summer was still going strong.  In the bus, I sat next to some 17 year old Albanian boys who were off to the beaches for a boys trip, something that according to them, doesn´t happen for young Albanian women.  "And why weren´t there so many Albanian women on the streets at night in Tirana?"  I asked curiously.  "It´s just not a thing in our culture." The boy with the best English said.  Whatever that means.

When I reached Saranda, my heart leapt, finally the beach.  The winds of the coastal city and salty air, I realized how much I missed Barcelona, longing for this sunny seaside.  My quick flutter of fun was curtly interrupted by an injection of frustration unable to find the hostel.  As my blood sugar dropped rapidly and face flushed, I took refuge and dove into a pizza before attempting to find my hostal.  When I finally arrived at the top of the 8th floor, last door on the left, instructions that seemed like an email from a CIA agent, I was pleasantly welcomed with a shot of Raki and an amazing view of a beach just walking distance from the hostal.  Do check out the Hairy Lemon hostel if you are in Saranda, Annette is a doll and it is a place that attracts all kinds of types, young, old, families, couples, singles, etc.  After a long day in the bus, I headed to the beach, and was so happy I could leave whatever I wanted on the shore while I took a swim.

The next day, I spent wandering amidst old Grecian/ Albanian ruins in the city of Butrint and napping in one of the infamous Southern Albanian beaches in the town of Ksamil.   A little bit of old amongst a lot of new with the development of high rises and other apartments in Saranda attracting Scandinavians to the beaches and coastline predicted to be Europe´s next Croatia.

Ksamil, Albania

                                                     
All in all, a route that was somewhat educational but very interesting.  After living in Thailand and traveling in Vietnam, it seems to me that some countries are so good at being hospitable (Thailand) and others want you to completely understand what has happened and what might happen because of the past (Vietnam). This is just a fraction of my adventures and there is more to come. To me and clearly, to other adventurous backpackers I met along the way, the Balkans are something that you can enjoy on so many levels; historically, physically and emotionally and I love the energy produced by the locals and travelers one meets along the way in this new and still rather untouched part of Europe.