Rigor, Relevance and Relationships

I was back again at the Rigor, Relevance and Relationships Conference.  I enjoyed it so much last year that I decided to attend again this summer.  Needless to say I was grateful I attended.  I was inspired once again with the presenters.  They really know how to make you feel good and validate what you do.


The opening session began with Dave Carroll.  Until this week, I unfortunately had not heard of him.  Apparently, he had a bad experience with United Airlines and turned his experience into a social media wave.  His message on social media and how it can affect a business or organization was a good one.  His book United Breaks Guitars was written after his You Tube video went viral.



The midday keynote speaker Adam Saenz was inspiring and powerful to say the least.  He was a young man always in trouble and he stood by us today telling his story of how he managed to get through high school, college, masters program and 2 doctoral degrees.  What would have been a statistic, he turned his life around and learned that all the bad in his life was not his fault.  His journey began with the inspiration by two encouraging notes given to him by two different teachers his last week as a senior in high school . He had the power to change and he did.  He later went on to write the book The Power of a Teacher.

Eric Cupp was another inspiring presenter.  He spoke on Capturing Moments and The Blessing.  His basic message was forming those relationships with students and emphasizing how important it is to show you care.  Capturing Moments lend itself to paying attention to the moments in your life.  They are happening everyday and throughout your day.  It's just a matter of you capturing them.  I left his presentation feeling uplifting to go out and conquer.  

I got to also sit in on a session from Kathy Seigel from Florida.  She presented on Instructional Leadership.  She was quite motivating and made the role of the instructional leader seem simple.  Well, the steps needed to take to be more successful as an instructional leader seemed simple.  However, it will take work and motivation.  She also had some quick little movement activities to use during any staff development to keep your audience involved.  Another inspiring presentation nonetheless.


One last presenter from San Antonio was Jo Mascorro.  She spoke on student behavior and gave us strategies on how to change it.  She has to be the most fun to listen to as she was hilarious and spoke lots of truth!  Very straight forward and entertaining.  Lots of good information and "a ha" moments! Loved it!

I got to visit with a few other presenters, however these are the ones that left an impression on me.  I really enjoyed my week with the RRR conference.  Can't wait to put some of what I learned into what I do.

Thanks again Cy-Fair ISD for hosting a great conference!

Summer and a Mulligan

Can I just be a summer blogger?  Is there such a thing?  ha! Seems I find little time to get to post anything during the school year. May was and usually is the fastest month for me.  The school year starts to wind down and it's almost like going 90 mph on a highway.

When I went into education I didn't get into it for the money nor the summers.  Okay, who am I kidding!  The summers are great!  But that wasn't one of the reasons I got into education.  Ever since I was a child, I played school at home.  I had my little chalkboard and my students.  I even had "school type" toys when I was little.  I totally loved reading too!  So, it was only natural that I would fall into education.  It was already in me from the beginning.  As I got close to high school graduation, the medical field sparked a big interest for me.  I started to have a desire to be a pediatrician.  Right after high school I took jobs in the medical field.  I worked as a nurse's assistant and in medical records.  I really enjoyed working in the hospitals.  Once my college courses begun, my heart started leaning back to my original dream of becoming a teacher and later work towards becoming a principal.


As a principal, no longer do you have the lengthy summer days.  Well, you still have summer days, but they are more for planning for your new year.  Just like a teacher prepares for her students for the next year, I prepare for my teachers and students.  It is a bit more calmer though.  Almost like some down time, but with a list of things to get done if that makes sense.

What I do love most about the education field (besides the obvious-working with children) is how it works in cycles.  There is a beginning and an end.  You go through the year sometimes trying new things.  Sometimes you have a strong focus on one thing and as the year progresses, something will take you off that focus and on to another.  But at the end of the year you get to look back and reflect.  What worked, what didn't work?  Summer time is the time to analyze and comb through all those reflections to find where the focus for the next year will be.  Most things in life run in cycles.  There is a beginning and an end.  We get started and we finish.  And we get to make a fresh start once again.  We take what we want, toss out what we don't and then we move on.  Life is funny that way.  It works along the same rules except your beginning can be wherever you want it to be.  If you wanted to set a new goal or a new focus, your beginning can be today.

This past school year was a tough one.  Maybe I can say it was the toughest one I've had in education?  I lived and learned quite a bit.  Good thing is I get to start all over again.  I get a mulligan.  Yeah that's it...a mulligan.  Love it!

Cheers to a wonderful summer of family fun!  Lots of down time for this lady here.  It's my goal!  Looking at doing some reading-for pleasure and for work (because that can't be put on hold...only keeping myself up with the latest), cooking-(l-o-v-e that!), blogging, and just enjoying being with my little family.  Oh and definitely making some time for the beach!

Welcome summer! I've been waiting for you! ;)