The More I Run...

... the more I love myself.

This 2013-2014 school year, my mantra was the word BALANCE.

My first year of teaching (2012-2013) was hard. The kind of hard where I called my mom in April and asked if she would be ashamed of me if I left the education field. The kind of hard where if you found my LinkedIn profile (for your sake and mine... don't), it has my butchered attempt of making an education resume more "business-ified." The kind of hard where I applied to several different secretarial positions, fashion industry positions, and even considered becoming a full-time waitress.

Before those of you reading this who have never felt this way get all self-righteous on me.... it wasn't because of the kids. I was working 12-14 hours every day, seven days a week. I wasn't eating, I was barely sleeping, and I lost contact with a majority of my friends. My only saving grace was the fact that I adored my learners, and I had a roommate and a boyfriend that listened to me and encouraged me as best as they could. They kept me going during my first year.

Thankfully, my mom convinced me to take the summer to breathe and get away from it all, and still see if I felt that way come August. As always (don't get a big head, Mom), she was right, and I promised her I would give it one more year before making a  final decision.

August '13 came around and I knew I had to do something different. I gave myself a schedule. I was allowed to work as much as I wanted Sunday-Thursday... but Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning/afternoon were mine for FUN.

In December, I decided to make real goals for 2014. I'm not one for goal-making, so it took me a long time to come up with goals that I knew I could achieve.

If you notice, I have "Run a 10K." Why did I put that? I have no idea; probably because it sounded healthy, and that's what you do for the new year, right?! Before I started running though, I wanted to make sure I was consistent with my workouts.

I signed up at Rob's Fitness to work with a personal trainer and made it a goal to workout 2 times per week. Minus a few crazy, hectic weeks (you ALL know the kind of weeks I'm talking about), I managed to keep this time frame. Having set appointments with an actual person has helped hold me accountable for working out... I even ENJOY it now! Go figure.

I started running (slow jogging with a LOT of walking) in April; barely two months ago. I ran 1.24 miles, and by the end of it, I swore that I was going to collapse onto the ground and never get up.

On 6/16/14 I ran my first 10K. It wasn't a race and, let me tell you, it HURT... but I did it, and I will probably do it again. and again. and again.

I am so glad that I didn't jump out of this crazy, roller coaster of education... but I am glad that I found other things to help me with my keyword- BALANCE. I can't wait for this next school year to come around. :)

I am going to be running a half at the Chosen Marathon in October with my sweet friend, Katti. You want to read a beautiful and heart-breaking story? Check out her blog HERE. I am blessed to have her as a friend (AND SHE RUNS!).

Cassie

Storify My Life...

I went in this morning ready to learn from George Couros, and what happens? I GET A KEYNOTE SHOUT OUT FROM HIM. After the first few minutes of wanting to curl up in a ball from embarrassment, I realized that this.was.COOL. I also realized that I have to blog and reflect if he is going to tell all of my coworkers I am blogging and reflecting!

The only logical thing to do next was to go to his next session on blogging! I went to his breakout session where he again pulled up my blog, but this time I was ready to learn. He gave me some solid advice on how to use my blog to share my learning AND to showcase what I am doing as an educator.

At the end of the session, George challenged me to create a Storify with tweets from #iDesign14. I skimmed through over 1900 tweets (I have a lot of free time in the summer) and chose ones that meant something to me, and that I would like to reference back to. I hope you find it useful!

Live Life Out Loud.
Cassie

Go Fo(u)rth and Learn- iDesign Coppell

Here's the deal. When @RafranzDavis says she can't wait to learn more from you, and to share/blog your journey? You go straight home, set up a Blogger account, and START BLOGGING. I don't feel the need to introduce myself (Cassie- @SoVeryCassie), because if you're reading this; you either follow me on Twitter or you're my mom. 

Hi, Mom! I love you!

The past 2 days (and tomorrow!) I have attended iDesign Coppell; a 3-day technology BRAIN DUMP-and I say that in the absolute, best way possible. There is/was every session you could imagine about the latest and greatest ways to use technology to CREATE and PRODUCE; taught by educators. Not people trying to sell you something; REAL people that are in the trenches just like you. So I figure my first blog can simply be to brain dump everything that I'VE learned on YOU. You're welcome. 

Brain Dump #1- Augmented Reality
Ok. I've used this in my classroom. I could see it's potential.. but it didn't work perfectly for me the first time and then I pushed it to the wayside because LIFE. Now that I've had it brought back to the front of my mind? I can't wait to use it. 

Augmented Reality adds a digital element to the physical world. If you need more information on it, please GO HERE for a WEALTH of information! 

Ways I imagine using it in my classroom:
*Book talks
*Explain anything and everything!
*Role Play
*Recite a written poem/writing piece
*GIFTS 
*Front-loading vocabulary
*Reviews
*Introducing our class to the many visitors I foresee us having this year! 

Brain Dump #2- Digital Storytelling in MATH
You might be thinking to yourself, 'Cassie, honey. Digital storytelling isn't anything new!' You would be right... but I've never thought to use it for MATH. Mainly because this coming year will be my first time to teach math, but that's an entirely different blog post. 

Www.tackk.com/mathstories will take you to the presentation by the fabulous person who made me feel obligated to start this blog! :)

Here is the example my fabulous mentor and I created. No, I'm afraid that it isn't my voice that you hear! :)
http://www.thinglink.com/scene/536228164628643841

Seriously though-app smashing, digital storytelling, and MATH all in one! It's my techie dream-come-true!

Brain Dump #3- Kevin Honeycutt (@Kevinhoneycutt)
Follow him on Twitter. He is awesome. That is all. 

Brain Dump #4- VIDEO ASSESSMENTS

Video Assessment- This is the resource that was used to teach about a variety of ways to use videos to assess your learners! They use a format called Blendspace that has so many ways you could use it! Once I've explored it more, I will write a blog about it. :)

Our learners, and I can assume yours as well, are crazy visual. They are bombarded with social media, movies, tv, video games, etc. every day. It makes sense that they would be engaged by these things in the classroom. So, why not? 

Ways I imagine using this in the classroom:
*flipped lessons
*assessments 
*front-loading

There it is. My brain. I hope you follow along on my journey, and I hope that you will teach me something along the way.