2019 Reflection

As I was thinking about the year that will end in less than 7 hours, I googled the word "reflection" just to see what I would find.  The results DID truly surprise me.  One result that stood out to me was, "The pulse is a reflection of the heart's condition."  I loved this example because of how I truly believe that I lead with my heart.  Tying reflection in with heart seemed perfect to me!  Another example that I reread was, "abrupt change in the direction of propagation of a wave that strikes the boundary between different mediums."  That one made me think of my physics class (memories of traveling to Savanna High School with Mr. Krahn each day).  Might have been a little too science-y for me....Then I read another one that was science related but I liked:  the return of light or sound from a surface.  That sounded good to me.  Connected with karma to me:   what you give off, you get back.  

THEN I found what I was really looking for.  Reflection when you write about experiences and explore how you have developed, changed, or grown from those experiences.   Ding, ding, ding.  We have a winner.  So here goes my reflection on 2019.

I began the year with some big goals and big ideas.  I was planning to Run the Year (2019 miles) and I wanted to PR with my half marathon finish time.  That meant breaking 1:51.  I hadn't broken 2 hours in a half since 2017.  I had 9 chances to reach the half marathon PR goal although my first half of 2019 was going  a "fun" half in Washington, DC, with my sister in honor of my dad.  Even so there were 8 other opportunities to work hard and show myself what I could do.  SPOILER ALERT:  I didn't reach the half marathon PR goal.  I did however run (or intentionally walk) the miles to make 2019.   I completed 2152 miles of intentional movement which breaks down to be just under 5.9 miles per day.  I'm proud of that.

My races went so much differently from how I had envisioned them.  I STRUGGLED with my running this year.  I still enjoyed going to the races and I am beyond thankful for the friends that I was able to spend time with at races/race weekends/ and while running.  I hope that I am ending 2019 stronger than I was when the year began.  

My first race of 2019 was the DC half.  I finished with a really great for me time: 2:04.  My final race was the Galena Fall River Half marathon and I was not even sure I would be able to run it.  Leading up to that race I had days where I could barely walk.  I saw a chiropractor for the first time.  I went to Acute Care in an effort to be able to run. I drank beet juice daily that week in hopes that it would have amazing healing powers....it was a miserable run but a fun weekend with amazing friends.  

It was a good year to see Washington DC in March with my mom, sister, and family.  

It was fun to travel to Indiana twice for races (March and September).  Once to celebrate my cousin's 40th birthday (although I dropped to the 5k due to weather) and once to run with Rosa and many Flower Friends.

I laughed often and did not quit.  

I chased some dreams and while I didn't meet the goal of a half PR, I kept showing up.

I am blessed with amazing friends who are willing to meet up to run and who motivate me to be a better me.

I experienced some lows along the way.  Life is not easy and I need to put in work with my marriage and my family in the same way that I put in work with my classroom/teaching and with my running.  During the last month of 2019, we attended 7 visitations and funerals.  It definitely helped me put into perspective the need for CELEBRATING!

I also experienced some things that are reason to celebrate.  I FINALLY have a lifetime WI teaching license after a long and frustrating process.

It's easy to say that I didn't meet my goals for 2019, but I have to celebrate by letting go and looking forward. 

Here's to ending 2019 on a good note.  I am so thankful for ALL of the experiences of 2019.  If you were a part of those experiences with me - THANK YOU!   I hope you will be an even bigger part of my 2020!

Here are the goals I have for 2020:
Enjoy more--- Enjoy more time and runs with friends.  Enjoy more time with my husband and kids.  Enjoy moving at my own pace whatever that will be in 2020.  Enjoy more of being on this life journey.  Enjoy more reflecting and writing about my walk through life. 

I will try new things (serving on the MVRA board, completing my 316 reading endorsement, and being in a new and exciting challenge group - DLB's Accountability Group).  I will move beyond my comfort zone.  I will get past my fears so that I cane get closer to my dreams.  

I will connect with those who have touched my life and follow up with plans to meet in person with those who I value.  

I will continue to live my motto:  #headupheartout

Here's to the possibilities that a new year brings and all the opportunities is has for living in the moment!

3 Hs - Hero, Hardship, and Highlight

Today during our inservice time we were asked to participate in an activity called 3Hs.

Share your hero, hardship, and highlight in 2 minutes with a card partner.

I have many people that I respect and admire but my easy answer for a hero is my dad.

It was my biggest hardship to watch my dad die.  I watched it happen quickly beginning May 17, 2017  and with his final breath on June 12, 2017.  That was HARD.  I watched and could do nothing.  Some of our weekends during his final month were spent in the hospital in Iowa City.  It became ice cream for dinner and swimming parties at the hotel when visiting hours were over.  My sister and I spent Memorial Day evening with him and we listened to him tell stories that we'd never heard before.   When he came home on June 9, we knew it was near the end and I am so glad that we all spent that morning eating donuts with him in the living room.

Another hardship for me is whenever my kids struggle.  I want to rescue them.  I want them to live an ideal life.  I cannot solve all of their problems for them.

It is my biggest highlight to celebrate successes with my kids.  It is a highlight of my hard days to get to come home and spend time with them.

I have many more thoughts on these 3Hs but I hope you will take a few minutes to think about your own answers to the 3Hs.

Open House is Thursday Night from 4:30 to 6.  Hope to see you there! 

PLC Summit Reflection

Forgive me for my crazy absence here on the blog!  It has been almost 3 months since I last wrote....

Today as I sit here to write I am so excited to share and process all that I heard and learned over the 3 day PLC Summit in Minneapolis, MN.  The conference began bright and early Monday morning so two suburbans filled with Lancaster Community Schools Employees left Lancaster at 3:00 on Sunday.  The drive to Minneapolis was filled with moments of fun conversation as well as quiet reading time.   Once we checked into the hotel, we headed out by foot to a restaurant that had been recommended to us because of the rooftop seating.  It was pretty late (about 8) when we arrived and the weather seemed a little unsettled.  After a long drive and it being so late, I was hoping that the burger I ordered would be amazing.....   After a pretty long wait and getting rained on, the dinner was okay but not great.  We arrived back at the hotel after 10.  My roommate, Missy, and I decided we would wait to exercise until after the sessions on Monday since it was already so late.  Missy had scoped out a crossfit place that had a class the next day at 4:30 and so we were going to run there and workout and then run back to the hotel.  It sounded perfect and it should have meant a good night's sleep.....except that we stayed up way too late watching Friends and talking. 

Monday's alarm got the day started and it was a wonderful beginning!

All 12 of us met in the lobby and headed over to the convention center to pick up our packet and enjoy breakfast. 

Session 1
Tim Brown was the morning keynote speaker.  His session was titled "Setting the Stage: Understanding the Big Ideas and Foundational Blocks of the PLC at Work Process." It was a perfect way to set the stage for two and a half days of building the base for the great work we have ahead.  His energy and expertise was a perfect way to connect things I thought about PLCs and a way to make them much better and more effective.  The world we live in is changing (he gave some fun examples from the past including a mimeograph machine and floppy disks) and education is no exception BUT the one thing that doesn't change is how important the teacher is in the educational process.  What can make that teacher even more powerful is when teachers encourage students and build the students' belief in themselves.  Want to make the education even more powerful?  Create TEAMS of teachers.  Encourage collaboration about the learning that is happening.

Then Tim Brown introduced the questions that PLCs must answer:
-Are the students learning?
-How do we know?
- What will we do if they aren't?
- What will we do if they already know it?

Here's where the transformational and powerful things can happen!  A learning community is created and it's so much more than just a team.  This learning community is focused on the students!  Each person will serve a specific role on that team.  I would say that I fit as a 3-romantic or 4-observer.

This work as a PLC is worth it because students will graduate with MASTERY of essential skills and knowledge.  Tim Brown shared the data to support but for me it really boiled down to being hungry for results.  If there are changes that need to be made to improve our professional practices, then we want to make those changes.

Tim Brown's next focus was on the assessment.  FORMATIVE Assessment!!!  Don't wait until the end of something to realize that students need something different so that they learn.  When looking at Summative assessment do we have a plan once we know how students have done?

The final piece of what Tim Brown shared was about how important it is that leadership is dispersed.  Teams are working together and take collective responsibility for what is happening.  And then he ended with a call to action: 

Session 2

The second session that I chose to go to was Data Notebooks.   It was so great.   I'd love to tell you more about it but I will share the details in another post.....  

Come back soon to find out what I loved about session 2.

A Quarter of 2019

It is a perfect coincidence that it's the end of the 3rd quarter of the school year and the end of the 1st quarter of 2019!   Time to reflect and refocus on goals!

What's been happening since January 1?  If you know me a bit then you know that I have 2 pieces to my running goal.
    1- to run a half marathon PR this year (which means 1:51 or faster....the PR is pretty old but I know I have it in me.
    2- run the year (2019 miles).

I've done some great things to work towards these goals so let's talk about the good things that are moving me forward first.    I've been working with Coach Heidi from Ironworx Multisport.  She is creating a challenging plan for me to complete each week.  Nutrition coaching was also something I won from Suppz Gym so each week I am focusing on protein, water, and calorie intake.  I took Mel Charbonneau's Breakthrough and Begin class and that helped with my mindset.

Things that have challenged me have included the weather.  Winter is not letting go.  The weather especially impacted the half I was supposed to run yesterday (Carmel, IN).   Due to the crazy torrential downpour I dropped to the 5k.  It was a wimp move but in the end I think it will be okay.  The drop in distance allowed me to enjoy more time with my cousin Kathy and fellow flower friend Amber. Busy schedules have caused some challenges, too.  With Kate and Will relying on me as their taxi, I have had to plan around their activities for my workouts.  For the most part this hasn't been too bad.  I have worked in the 5 am runs when necessary.

So where do I stand:
     1 half is done so far this year (Washington, DC - 2:04:24)  9 left for the year.
   

       March mileage was the highest of the year with 190.  If I can keep up this pace, I can hit the goal of 2019.

Great things are happening.  W

Spring Break Reflections

Spring Break 2019 was spent in our nation's capitol.  It was a wonderful and full 9 days!  

It wrapped up with a 13.1 run through Washington, DC!

If you asked Kate what her favorite thing was it wouldn't surprise me if she said it was the Starbuck's on every corner.  Many mornings started with a carmel frappacino. 

We loved our Moonlight and Memorials Tour but wish it had been a little warmer.  My feel were so cold that I din't know if they would every warm up!  It felt like I was walking on ice blocks.

Wednesday we did Ford's Theater and the Holocaust Museum.  I had been looking forward to the Holocaust Museum and it did not disappoint.  While it is a somber topic, I cannot imagine it having been done any better.

Here's a recap of what we saw while we were there:

Sunday

National Cathedral

National Geographic Museum (Egypt)

Black Finn

Monday

National Archives

Capitol

National Mall/ Smithsonians (air and space, natural history)

Ted's Bulletin

Tuesday

Arlington National Cemetery

The Pentagon

911 Memorial

Wednesday

Ford's Theater

Holocaust Museum

Moonlight and Memorials Tour

Georgia Brown's

Thursday

Race Expo

Black Finn with the Davies Family

Friday

American History and African American Museums

Bozzelli's Deli

Saturday

RACE Day!

I hope to add some more trip reflection and thoughts to this post but wanted to get a few things out there before I forget!

Newsletter Post

This week was still a bit off with the snow day right in the middle....We are getting a little closer to normal and hoping for a full 5 day week next week. 

Check out our newsletter for the week by clicking HERE!

Are you Looking for Something More?

This year (and maybe even some of 2018) I have been trying to do all things with my mantra, "Head up, heart out."  As I try to own my story and really dig into it, I want to share with you a program that I am embarking on soon.  I share it with you with the hopes that you may decide that you'd like to be a part of it!

When Will won his Super Bowl Surprise, it was because of a short essay he wrote about my dad.  Once upon a time I was writing regularly.  Since switching to teach in Wisconsin, I find myself hiding my story and not writing it out.  I don't need others to read my story but I know that there is value in just owning my story.  The program I am beginning with Mel Charbonneau is sure to help me find my voice again. 

Want to know more?
Click HERE!

If you do decide to join in, please let Mel know that I (Margaret Bussan) sent you.

Book Review: Mystery of the Golden Temple

I remember reading The Babysitter's Club books and Swiss Valley Twins books when I was in 3rd and 4th grade.  What I loved about those books were two things that I loved about this book:  they were part of a series so I could read more and the friendships that the characters had were what I thought was typical.

In this wonderful chapter book Jess and her family travel to Thailand.  The problems begin as soon as the family lands and tries to get a taxi ride to their home away from home in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  The things that Jess notices about Thailand are wonderful details that any reader will enjoy.  It creates a high interest story that is filled with facts for those that have a thirst for knowledge about the world.  Facts about Thailand are throughout the book along with a few details about Jess' hometown of Boston, MA. 

Written in short chapters with a plot centered around the mystery of the bad luck and missing amulet, this is a fantastic book for 2nd through 5th grade readers.

This was a sweet and bright book that includes a mysterious plot and a tale of friendship that should be shared with all young readers.