in the words of a wise woman, sandy (cough,cough): TCH is rainbows and butterflies...but for REAL! and i wouldn't have it any other way!

4:30 am came early on thursday (as i'm certain it does on any day, only this day i had to be the one to experience it). THAT SAID, i made it to the airport-only to miss the turn to get into the BEST parking lot, and it was impossible to turn around and get back there in a timely fashion, so i just parked in the airport long term and hiked it to the terminal. fortunately love field is not a large airport, so the hike wasn't like through the sahara, around the pyramids, traversing the nile...just an elevator and loooooong hallway-walkway.

the first leg of the flight was meh. nothing to shout about (besides, shouting anything ridiculous on an airplane tends to throw people into fits of nervousness and get you thrown off the plane).

the second leg of the flight was great-it just started out well, because the flight crew was all smiles and super friendly. from the safety talk during which the flight attendant so vigorously opened the safety instructions that she tore it in half and began laughing, to the complete happiness factor that they exuded, it was obvious that they thoroughly enjoyed their work! and nothing is more refreshing than being around people who enjoy their work-it is contagious! i left a note of appreciation, but more importantly, after the flight, i went to the company website to leave a compliment for the crew.

thank you smilers and laughers of southwest-you are invigorating! i wish i could drink a pound of your coffee to help peru!

we took a taxi from oakland to berkeley...$56-talk about highway robbery-literally! thank you, susan for picking up the tab- our rooms weren't ready, so we just checked into the teaching channel registration; this was our second #teamsfest, and it was great to see so many familiar faces! being creatures of habit, at first it was a little unnerving being sat at a table apart from my peeps-strategic planning. but as always, they know best, and it was really good for me to get to know this group of individuals. they had a lot to offer! i was assigned to table 9 (back-o-the-bus)...and i knew no one. so there was some small talk amidst the act of trying to stay warm. let me back up. the convention was at the doubletree marina in berkeley, ca.

i was expecting the weather to be a bit warmer during the day. but it was nothing like dfw (i don't know if that is good or bad...the verdict is still out). while i am thankful that the humidity wasn't an issue, it was almost frigid on day one-upper 50's, lower 60's with a slight breeze (i swear it felt like -23` F- dramatic enough?)...it's ok, i'll own up to the fact that i've become a warmth snob..i have difficulties with cold weather (and to think i used to de-ice planes in sub-zero temps- it's almost shameful!). and what did they offer for drinks? ice tea and ice water. BUT NO COFFEE! i asked the waiter about it, but he said coffee would be served with dessert, later. i wanted to cry. by this time, sandy had joined us-she works with the teaching channel (tch); i was thrilled-someone i related to! (not someone i am related to...but someone who i could laugh with and say stupid things like, "i need to get coffee, otherwise it's going to be a little awkward for people seeing me with my hands in my crotch trying to keep warm," and not be judged). i think that prompted her to suggest we go purchase some coffee because she wanted to save me the embarrassment... i'm glad we were able to find the shop with coffee because i didn't bring my hot-hands hand warmers. sandy was so gracious and offered to buy andrea's and my coffee-which while it may seem a little thing, she didn't really even know us, nor was she obligated in any way to do so. her spirit of generosity exemplifies the spirit of tch.

the view-worth the chill! if you look closely, you can see the skyline behind the boats.

we took 'family pics' with our texas peeps-4 different groups of us! and then we were begged and coerced into playing yard darts (lawn darts?)  for prizes...um we were terrible. in fact the gal in charge (lindsey? lauren? she wasn't a table 9 regular, so i didn't catch her name-sigh) but yeah, she had to keep changing the rules for us so that someone could get a prize...in fact, she ended up just having to GIVE us the prize bag. we are lawn-dart losers...don't shame us. WE DID THAT ON OUR OWN!! HA!

i mean...at least we tried..right? that's gotta count for something!

once pics were done, we were herded into the building to follow-the-leader to the conference meeting area. umm...it was a maze. it felt almost like i was in the movie labyrinth, and david bowie, hoggle, sir didymus and ludo were going to jump out at a moments notice! we made it safely to the conference room, where erika neilson andrew immediately led us into the kick-off! she is such a cruise director! (and ring master).

we kicked it off with a quick pecha kucha-which is exactly what it sounds like. ok, seriously, it's an intro to all of the teams present, and what they are working on. we also viewed my favorite lone-nut video from ted talks-LOVE it! and we also viewed the video of austin's butterfly-another fave! so at this point, i was batting 2 for 2! great way to start the conference! this was followed by a wonderful excerpt from DARING GREATLY, which i believe i will need to purchase, because i was really taken with what we read. i would highly recommend it to anyone in any type of leadership position-education, business, parenting...anything! very powerful and informative.

this session ended with some brief introductory comments, and we were graced with a special greeting from Pat Wasley, CEO (with a vision-)of TCH. one of the things she said was: Group leadership-helping each other to achieve success is going to get us further and allow for greater wins than "one-man" leaders. i paraphrased, but this is what i love so much about these teamfests-it is such a variety of education-oriented people, from different levels and walks, from different regions, with different viewpoints, and everyone brings something to the table-with a desire to help everyone else get better and develop and think through. it's like an education/pd think tank.

before i get too far, i would be remiss if i failed to mention one of my favorite parts of the whole event! the STICKER BADGES!!! what a great idea!!! totally bringing that back to my campus!! so, the sticker badges were designated for different strengths. there were table tents, posters and a sheet in our folder to give us the definitions and meanings for each sticker. the whole idea is just to be stinkin' encouraging and looking for other peoples' strengths and giving away these sticker compliments freely! which let's face it, we do NOT do enough of in our culture...but once again, this is totally TCH culture...rainbows and butterflies, as sandy so aptly described it! this is something i truly appreciate about tch-they are some of the "nicest people around," as andrea put it. they "GET" teachers and education, and their desire to partner with different groups in different capacities in order to ultimately impact students is simply unparalleled. 

warm fuzzies...rainbows and butterflies

there was a brief break, then we broke out into curtain openers-which allowed participants to see the practice of different teams and what the problems were to address. andrea, susan and i were part of this session. we were able to share our learning plan and how we were trying to put together a video pd-cycle for our campus next year. the best thing about it was the process. as we shared and talked about it in the presentation, we were able to process even more-it brought deeper problems to the surface and we were able to self identify potential issues! so we began doing some of our own critical thinking while our peers looked through our plans, then we were able to take in their feedback-positive and growth opportunities and questions to ponder-this really helped us as we move into the process of refining (continual)...but seriously, this was so helpful to us! thought partners are the best kind! so after this session, i received a couple of stickers for allowing people to peek in on our practice, and also for being a promoter of teams and learning deeply...i feel that we have a lot deeper to go-which i will get into with part 2...but this ended our sessions for day one...off to check in and get ready for dinner!

we piled onto a bus at 6pm and headed over to jack london square; i believe the restaurant was bocanova- a swanky little joint on the waterfront. delectable! i am pretty sure i ate more than i should've. i tried everything except the salad, because...well, let's be real, why waste space on salad when there are so many other delicacies?! LOVED the flat iron steak, platano with shredded beef, and even the scallops, which is a first (i've never had a scallop i liked until that evening...well played, oakland, well played). as for locating the restrooms...i suggest gps..i think the same architect that designed the hotel we were staying at designed this place...come on california, keep it simple...putting a row of closets down the hallway that leads to the bathroom just makes me want to check behind each door to see if it's a stall...i did highly recommend taking bread crumbs with to those who ventured out to the bathroom after me. fortunately everyone made it back safe and sound. 

i'll take a crate of these to go, please!

i was disappointed with myself for not going out to the karaoke party that night back at the hotel, but we were running on empty from such an early morning!i got over the disappointment (remember, all of this happened on  thursday). i slept like a rock. no shame! 

the fun didn't end there! tune in for day 2 tomorrow!

julie