June 19th reflection

I am really enjoying this semester. I am learning so much and know that I will miss this when it is over. I need the forced participation and love the energy that our cohort has.

We finished up a lot of work on Tuesday and it felt nice to really work together as a group. In the beginning of this cohort Dr. Warrick would change our groups as often as we met. I kept getting thrown out of my comfort zone and have really learned the value of that. When I chose to work with Joe and Marc I chose mostly unknown personalities. I had worked briefly with them on one project before but never together. I have very much enjoyed how we have meshed all of our talents. Through the past year and a half we have learned to trust ourselves and others in the group. This was important for me because in the beginning I felt I was so new to this and now I see my confidence has grown by leaps.

I looked at all the stuff we had to do Tuesday and honestly did not feel overwhelmed. I trusted my group and new that we could tackle it. That was an awesome experience. I know this is what I will feel during the exit experience. At least I hope so. Our group is strong.

I love the whole idea of a podcast to streamline to just the basics. It reminds me of our 25 word Happy Hour Summary--short and to the point. I can see the use of these in class, too and look forward to next year implementing what we have learned.

I talked with my department chair (trying to step into the extra large shoes of a teacher leader) and had a surprisingly great conversation. We talked about having a geometry, and Algebra retreat, at the end of this summer for the teachers in our department. I am going to have a department get-together at the end of July. Any ideas for activities for these two events are greatly appreciated and welcome. The door has been opened and there are willing allies, it is time to move in. Thanks to everyone for what they have shared with me and helped me to become a better person.