I AM 40!!! New Blogging Journeys

Hello blogging world.

First of all, some of you asked to see my face.  Being that my blog is over, I feel that I can now honor that request – here you go!  (I was a bit younger than 40 in this photo, but those who know me will testify that I have not changed a bit!)

This is my encore post.  I am now already 40, which means that my 400 days ’til 40 blogging journey is officially over.  This also means that this blog has run its course.  As mentioned yesterday – it is bitter-sweet, as I enjoyed the journey immensely.  This particular blog has to end, but I do have new ones on the horizon.  Stay subscribed here and in the future weeks/ months I will post a note directing you to my new blogging adventures.

 

2 Days ’til 40: 40 Favorite Posts from My 400 Days ’til 40 Journey

I must say that it was much easier to choose 40 photos than to choose 40 posts!  One of the fun things about this particular journey is that I allowed myself to write (or post photos) about whatever I felt on any particular day.  As a result, I have a wide array of followers who each connect in different ways to what I write – this has been amazing.  I imagine that in the future, as I become a bit more focused, I may have a less diverse group of readers, though I hope not!

Here is my top 40 list of posts, hopefully as eclectic as my readers are.  Some I chose because of the importance of the content, some because they make me laugh (yes, I realize that I have a weird sense of humor that others do not always appreciate) and some because I like the way the words flow.

 

11 Days ’til 40: Unwanted Visitors (of the creepy crawly variety)

It happens to the best of us, it has happened in EVERY school I have worked in from inner cities to the most elite private schools.  We all get the infestations – Lice.  When most people hear the word “lice” they immediately react with dismay and all the psychosomatic effects kick right in – they start scratching even when no lice exist.  These are not the guests we want coming home with our children for dinner!

 

18 Days ’til 40: Educational Evolution Efficacy: Fact or Fallacy???

Many educational experts believe that the present state of the educational system in the USA and abroad is less-than-desirable. Many agree that the realities of life in our current century do not necessarily align with the manner in which we are choosing to educate our children. Many agree that education is outdated and must be redesigned and re-thunk in order to become more meaningful for our children. What experts do not agree on is how we are going to do this.

 

20 Days ’til 40: Why I LOVE My Education Job

Today was one of those days….  I started the day with 58 emails in my inbox (a low number for me) and seemed to have an inordinate amount of complaints and issues arise throughout the day.  I answered email after email for most of the day, communicating with concerned parents and teachers re:a variety of issues.  I sent out at least 60 emails, maybe it was closer to 75 or 80, and at the end of the day my inbox still had 64 emails I need to respond to…. Yes I responded all day and the number grew!!!  I was, for lack of a better analogy, chained to my desk for hours as I assisted many with their concerns.  I definitely felt a bit more like a complaint department than an educator.  Of course, all I really wanted today was to be out in the classrooms and with the teachers and the students – these moments are sometimes hard to come by as an administrator – the tyranny of the urgent replaces the important as small fires of concern need to be extinguished (when I want to be out there helping to light fires of desire to learn!)

 

22 Days ’til 40: Slowing Down

I think one of the occupational hazards of educational administration that I did not reference in my recent post is slowing down (or, rather, lack thereof).  I love my job.  The students, teachers, and parents in our community really are special.  They come together and support each other, sometimes in the midst of very trying life circumstances.  Another thing I appreciate about our community is its diversity.  I work in a place that celebrates and honors differences – in colors, abilities, religion, etc.  As a result, we are a community that is rich – we learn from each other.

 

24 Days ’til 40: Occupational HAZARDS

This post is dedicated to and inspired by my partner, who claims that I write too many, “go take a bath and feel good about yourself” posts and do not write enough about real life and the predicaments I sometimes manage to get myself into.  So, here is that blog – the entry that shows how utterly human I am…. don’t laugh too hard, okay?

 

32 Days ’til 40: EdD vs. PhD…..

I have been thinking a lot about these degrees lately, as I have slowly come to the realization that I need to have my doctorate in order to continue to advance in my career.  Not having the title “Dr.” seems to inhibit career advancement….. but what does that really mean?  

 

37 Days ’til 40: Education Attitude Change

Education seems to be in America the only commodity of which the customer tries to get as little he can for his money. ~ Max Leon Forman 

Education … has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading. ~ G. M. Trevelyan

We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

You can lade a man up to th’ university, but ye can’t make him think. ~ Finley Peter Dunne

The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done. ~ Jean Piaget

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. ~ Mark Twain

I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper and I was free. ~ Indigo Girls

 

38 Days ’til 40: Education to Nowhere?

We are dealing with the best-educated generation in history.  But they’ve got a brain dressed up with nowhere to go. ~ Timothy Leary