Winter Break

For many of you, the winter break (or holiday break, or Christmas break) is just around the corner. I wish you the best, and hope that you take some time to do something for yourself--not work, not grad school, not family....just you. I know that is hard. I've spent the last year learning to balance a new husband and stepson. Last year around this time, we were three days away from our wedding! But one thing I have learned...or relearned...is that no matter what, if I don't take time to refresh, there's not much left to give anyone else. So this break, take a deep breath, and step away from the rest of the world. Then, ask yourself, what is it that I need to do to be the best I can be when I go back in January? Have a blessed holiday season. Barbara

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving and a rest from the daily stress of school life. No matter how much you love your job (or not), we all need a few days away. I would encourage you to take time to do one thing totally for yourself in the next few days. Go to a movie, write in your journal, take a walk...whatever you enjoy. Afterward, when you feel like you have had a chance to breathe, write down three reasons you CHOOSE to do what you do. Because it's always a choice...maybe you want to make a difference for a student, maybe you like the "a-ha" moment that comes (not nearly as often as we'd like), or maybe you like knowing that you learn as much as your students. Thank you for choosing to be a teacher or a leader. You make a difference for students everyday...even when it doesn't feel like it.

Balance

Have you ever felt like you were juggling too many things at one time? It has been that way for me lately. I kept thinking that things would calm down by now, but... A friend of mine laughed at me, saying "things never calm down; you just get better at dealing with them." I hope that's true. For me, the last year has been full of changes. In 2009 I took a new job at a different university. It's amazing how the same job is different at a new place. When I married in December, I was balancing a new job, commuting two hours each way, a new husband and stepson, finishing a book, and selling my house. TOO MUCH! My first decision to add balance was to quit my university job at the end of the year. So, in June, I became a full time writer/speaker, wife and mom. There's still a lot to balance. Just finishing the new book--Rigor in Your School--A Toolkit for Leaders, and I'm taking some time off the road. Right now, my biggest tip for balance is to make a list this morning--not a full to
do list but a two column list: Definite Things to Accomplish Things I'd Like to Get Done (But I won't beat myself up if I don't).
Usually, that was all on one list, but this way I feel more accomplishment!