okay, so i really shouldn't be doing this right now-too much to do, but if i don't at least start, i will never get it done...so there's that. besides, i took a nap this afternoon, hence i may be awake later than i'd like anyway, so here goes.
when i left off last, i was meeting megan and deAn at love field to go to houston again, this time for a training with alief. when megan arrived, she found me at the gate and we chatted for a bit before deAn joined us. at this point, she wasn't feeling bad, just a little "tired." i was looking forward to finally getting a chance to observe her, because i'd only heard good things! it was great to find out a little more about her-again, one of the benefits of getting to observe everyone. the plane ride was short and sweet-always is to houston. the poor flt attendants put on their track shoes to run down the aisle to throw peanuts or pretzels at passengers-trying not to cause bodily harm- and ensure that pax can guzzle their beverages before touchdown-although, to be perfectly clear, there are literally two sips in each little plastic cup, purposefully filled with extreme ice.
anyhoo, megan got worse as the flight continued-and it didn't ease up even as we arrived at the hotel. perhaps dehydration...so she stayed at the hotel, and deAn and i found the cheddars that was literally around the corner, but we took the scenic route..it should have taken about a minute, but no worries, we got there about 10 minutes later. thanks siri... and when we got there, we were seated almost immediately. from there the service went downhill. i think our server was about to be cut, and was finishing his housekeeping duties, because when we finally asked about our food, it came out (my shrimp was cold, but at this point, i know how things work, and i didn't want to take any chances about what might happen to my food if it were sent back...just sayin'). the positive in this, is that deAn and i got to catch up-if you recall, she is one of the trainers who started with me, formerly a principal. i really enjoy her spirit and positive attitude. we took a baked potato back for megan, and i think that was what she needed. went to bed relatively early to be prepared for monday morning.
when morning rolled around, i went down for a little breakfast, and ate quickly-then i saw megan working on her computer, changing a couple of things on her computer. one thing i will say is that i was very impressed with her organization and desire to get things 'just-right.' and when deAn arrived, we took off for the designated location-i believe it was their district building. siri was once again doing a number on our timeliness...taking us every which way, u-turn here, u-turn there...i turn, u-turn let's all just turn everywhere!! (part of my houston ditty-coming along)...
anyhoo, when we arrived, the parking lot was fairly packed, which we later found out was because the bus drivers park here before going out. some of the bus drivers actually came in at one point thinking this might be one of their trainings..so we kindly redirected them. once we got the projector taken care of, things went smooth sailing. thoroughly enjoyable group. great participants in the morning and afternoon. one beacon of light in the morning-she was a true believer (read into that with sarcasm if you must)...but megan did a great job giving her an answer that shut down the negativity. KUDOS!
we were able to catch the earlier flight, and it was not a heavy load, so we each got aisle seats. the flight home was much better. on the way out of the airport, i made sure to point out the welcoming, happy ranger statue...and when we got to the parking spot, i gave her some additional materials that i had grabbed from the office for her.
the next day, was an early drive to arlington to watch jane and georgia with the coaches there. it was good to see this training, as they had been going back to this site over the past three years, so there was familiarity, although most of these coaches were somewhat new to the program. most of them had been to a training about a month prior, so they were ready to go. i was surprised when i walked in to see suzanne and lori (consultant, not boss-lady-[boss lady work for you, lori?])... we were able to go around and help with questions and such as they worked through reports. toward the afternoon, suzanne was working on the schedule and i was able to give some input and clarification about a couple of dates. i was almost going to colorado, but sadly already scheduled in texas, so that was not to be.
and i had to contact julie k to finalize a couple of things for one of the trainings in san antonio-i'm glad i got to speak with her because they were in florida at the time, and i was a little worried about them being in the area where the storm was going to be hitting.
back to the training, jane and georgia tag-teamed it splendidly, and had some great activities that were engaging and the participants were, for the most part, on task. it got difficult when the network started going slowly, but they hung in there!
wednesday i watched some webinars in the morning before heading to the office for a product knowledge meeting...which we went to, because we'd gotten an email, and the specialist kinda' looked at us strangely and said we probably weren't going to need this training at this point...so we went back to the 19th floor and i finished up some things with suzanne and deAn finished making her copies...and just before i was getting ready to leave, surprise of all surprises, in comes lori (lori #1, not consultant lori, boss lady this time) with dr. campbell, who if you recall, i had the pleasure of meeting in orlando at ucf with sabrina. this time i got to meet gretchen as well, whom i have heard great things about! (they are huggers, and i love it-me too).
and then i was out-because the next day i was driving to houston for the aldine training. yup. three trips to houston in a matter of a week's time...more on that later!
so just to sum it up, be sure to hydrate when you fly...(i guess that isn't really summing anything up...almost as bad as someone who says 'excuse the pun' when there really isn't even a pun...punny, i know...i guess i'll have to dive into the teacher lessons and get a little more direction on that summing-up thing...)
faithfully yours (and by faithfully yours, i merely mean i'm not cheating on you with another blog),
julie
Showing posts with label southwest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label southwest. Show all posts
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Monday, September 26, 2016
what do you do? no, like i'm a driver, i DRIVE, what do you do? REALLY?!
remember where we left off? i'd just gotten back from pbi (west palm beach). now that that's out of the way. ju had asked if i might drop her off to pick up a rental car in dallas. well, duh! my life! i think acts of service is one of my love languages (that i give...i am also very good at giving quality time because that is the one i receive the best)..i've tried very hard to get better at noticing what people receive and try to meet those-if you are not familiar with the five love languages, i highly recommend!! the book is great, and here's the quiz! if you want to really connect with people (anyone) this is key!
but i digress...so we went to get the shuttle, and i missed the apparently epic stumble-up-the-stairs...depth perception, ju!! she biffed it-let's blame it on the luggage being top-heavy and throwing her off balance. regardless, smacked her shin and hand (left a mark) and the shuttle driver-pat? kinda' mumbled to ask if she was alright, but didn't lend a hand or make an effort to help with the bags...first day on the job? crack addict? not sure...a little slow. anyhoo, i gave my ticket to the driver and the driver looked at it and said the number. there were others on the shuttle as well, which was probably a good thing because the driver was awk-ward-as-all-get-out. (notice that i have not assigned a sex, as we were a little uncertain? see how i did that?) yeah, so anyway...we were the last ones off, and we kept seeing people give tips, without really being helped, and by the time it was down to us, i wasn't going to, but then in the back of my mind, i was thinking, "shoot, if i don't, will i look racist? or if this person is indeed on some illegal, mood-altering narcotic, i don't want ju to get a shiv in the kidney" i even looked at julie and was like:do i? don't i? of course she was biased, as she was almost hospitalized for the aforementioned mishap...not really, but i'm a sucker, so i doled out two dolla. (you think i jest...) and then wouldn't you know it, this person who was pretending to be a mute the entire 20 minute ride got a second wind and became a chatty chat chatterson...i wasn't trying to start a conversation, because julie had someplace to be, but (now we know it was a girl) she asked a question and i thought it would be rude to be short.
she: what do you do?
me: i'm a trainer.
she: no, i mean, like i'm a driver, i DRIVE. what do YOU do?
me: (scratches head and tilts to the side)umm... well, i'm a trainer. i TRAIN people. on a computer-based reading program.
she then starts asking all sorts of questions trying to understand. eventually telling us she went to school in louisiana or something like that, when julie told her she went to college at baylor, this lady got ALL excited and started getting passionate about her friend who played ball there. we were finally able to tear ourselves away without an embrace (julie looking at her wrist, as if to be keeping time).
we were able to avoid traffic for the most part, and i hope she was able to get to her bro's house in time to see her nephew and not run into too much traffic going to meet up with her friend, who just happened to be in town as well.
(sorry ya'all, get the popcorn and settle in, there's more! i mean, that could've been the post in and of itself, but nooooo, i've gotta go and tell you everything!)
on saturday i went furniture shopping with one of my friends- we hit up nebraska furniture mart just to make sure that's NOT what she wanted! and after looking at several couches and taking pics to get a second opinion from mom, we left with a better understanding of what she did not want. most of them were comfortable, and me, the least particular person in the world, didn't get it (not a 100%). i will say this, she'd been talking about a particular couch from pottery barn for the past 9 months, so i had an idea that she wouldn't settle. and she shouldn't-her heart was already set. if you're going to pay money for a big-ticket item, you should get what you really like! so we ended up at pottery barn and she did find the one she wanted! i'm moral support, and i really do like the one that she chose! party at her place in 8-10 weeks!!
after going in on sunday and making the final purchase, i came home and prepared for my trip du jour- monday i'd be taking off for miami-coveted time with sabrina. if you recall, i got to spend a day with her in magnolia about a month or so back-not nearly enough time, so i was really looking forward to this because i'd get to observe in two separate venues. and i was a little anxious, because i was going to get to meet dr. campbell, from ucf. i kept hoping that i'd make the cut with her (always good to have your clients like you, right? exactly! best behavior!)
so i'll get into that a little more tomorrow, but i will say that i was delighted to find sabrina at love field and i sneaked up behind her at the airport to surprise her, and just kept thinking, "i hope that's her!" as i walked up behind her and you know how you walk up behind someone and cover their eyes and say "guess who?!" well, i DIDN'T think she'd probably appreciate having some stranger in the airport put their hands over her face, but it was something like that...again, i was hoping for the love of all that is good that i did indeed have accurate recall the back of this head! praise Jesus, it was sabrina!
it's always a good flight when you're among friends! (can i say that figuratively-not metaphorically...as there really isn't a metaphor, but there really weren't a lot of friends on this plane so to speak and it would really be hard to be surrounded by one person...and now i'll shut up about that, just know that this is one of the things i appreciate about southwest when i'm traveling with friends-we can sit together and enjoy the trip-and we did! whew! did that tire anyone else out??) we looked at the power point and then played word games-she introduced me to my newest addiction- alphabetty. curses. what do you MEAN i have to wait 2 minutes for a new life?!
so that was that, and when we got to fll, we rented a car and headed for the first part of the trip to miami for our adventure. (by now you know that everything with me is about some sort of adventure, and if an adventure doesn't happen, we're going to make that trip to the grocery store into a freakin' adventure! i didn't grow up watching indiana jones for nothing!)
patience, more coming soon.
julie
but i digress...so we went to get the shuttle, and i missed the apparently epic stumble-up-the-stairs...depth perception, ju!! she biffed it-let's blame it on the luggage being top-heavy and throwing her off balance. regardless, smacked her shin and hand (left a mark) and the shuttle driver-pat? kinda' mumbled to ask if she was alright, but didn't lend a hand or make an effort to help with the bags...first day on the job? crack addict? not sure...a little slow. anyhoo, i gave my ticket to the driver and the driver looked at it and said the number. there were others on the shuttle as well, which was probably a good thing because the driver was awk-ward-as-all-get-out. (notice that i have not assigned a sex, as we were a little uncertain? see how i did that?) yeah, so anyway...we were the last ones off, and we kept seeing people give tips, without really being helped, and by the time it was down to us, i wasn't going to, but then in the back of my mind, i was thinking, "shoot, if i don't, will i look racist? or if this person is indeed on some illegal, mood-altering narcotic, i don't want ju to get a shiv in the kidney" i even looked at julie and was like:do i? don't i? of course she was biased, as she was almost hospitalized for the aforementioned mishap...not really, but i'm a sucker, so i doled out two dolla. (you think i jest...) and then wouldn't you know it, this person who was pretending to be a mute the entire 20 minute ride got a second wind and became a chatty chat chatterson...i wasn't trying to start a conversation, because julie had someplace to be, but (now we know it was a girl) she asked a question and i thought it would be rude to be short.
she: what do you do?
me: i'm a trainer.
she: no, i mean, like i'm a driver, i DRIVE. what do YOU do?
me: (scratches head and tilts to the side)umm... well, i'm a trainer. i TRAIN people. on a computer-based reading program.
she then starts asking all sorts of questions trying to understand. eventually telling us she went to school in louisiana or something like that, when julie told her she went to college at baylor, this lady got ALL excited and started getting passionate about her friend who played ball there. we were finally able to tear ourselves away without an embrace (julie looking at her wrist, as if to be keeping time).
we were able to avoid traffic for the most part, and i hope she was able to get to her bro's house in time to see her nephew and not run into too much traffic going to meet up with her friend, who just happened to be in town as well.
(sorry ya'all, get the popcorn and settle in, there's more! i mean, that could've been the post in and of itself, but nooooo, i've gotta go and tell you everything!)
on saturday i went furniture shopping with one of my friends- we hit up nebraska furniture mart just to make sure that's NOT what she wanted! and after looking at several couches and taking pics to get a second opinion from mom, we left with a better understanding of what she did not want. most of them were comfortable, and me, the least particular person in the world, didn't get it (not a 100%). i will say this, she'd been talking about a particular couch from pottery barn for the past 9 months, so i had an idea that she wouldn't settle. and she shouldn't-her heart was already set. if you're going to pay money for a big-ticket item, you should get what you really like! so we ended up at pottery barn and she did find the one she wanted! i'm moral support, and i really do like the one that she chose! party at her place in 8-10 weeks!!
after going in on sunday and making the final purchase, i came home and prepared for my trip du jour- monday i'd be taking off for miami-coveted time with sabrina. if you recall, i got to spend a day with her in magnolia about a month or so back-not nearly enough time, so i was really looking forward to this because i'd get to observe in two separate venues. and i was a little anxious, because i was going to get to meet dr. campbell, from ucf. i kept hoping that i'd make the cut with her (always good to have your clients like you, right? exactly! best behavior!)
so i'll get into that a little more tomorrow, but i will say that i was delighted to find sabrina at love field and i sneaked up behind her at the airport to surprise her, and just kept thinking, "i hope that's her!" as i walked up behind her and you know how you walk up behind someone and cover their eyes and say "guess who?!" well, i DIDN'T think she'd probably appreciate having some stranger in the airport put their hands over her face, but it was something like that...again, i was hoping for the love of all that is good that i did indeed have accurate recall the back of this head! praise Jesus, it was sabrina!
it's always a good flight when you're among friends! (can i say that figuratively-not metaphorically...as there really isn't a metaphor, but there really weren't a lot of friends on this plane so to speak and it would really be hard to be surrounded by one person...and now i'll shut up about that, just know that this is one of the things i appreciate about southwest when i'm traveling with friends-we can sit together and enjoy the trip-and we did! whew! did that tire anyone else out??) we looked at the power point and then played word games-she introduced me to my newest addiction- alphabetty. curses. what do you MEAN i have to wait 2 minutes for a new life?!
so that was that, and when we got to fll, we rented a car and headed for the first part of the trip to miami for our adventure. (by now you know that everything with me is about some sort of adventure, and if an adventure doesn't happen, we're going to make that trip to the grocery store into a freakin' adventure! i didn't grow up watching indiana jones for nothing!)
 |
| our rental convertible...lori, that's covered by our rental agreement, right? not really, we had a dodge durango with a personality crisis...almost a diva about stoplights. |
julie
Saturday, May 30, 2015
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 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
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! |
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! |
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.
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| warm fuzzies...rainbows and butterflies |
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.
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| i'll take a crate of these to go, please! |
the fun didn't end there! tune in for day 2 tomorrow!
julie
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