We Will See...

What Would You Like A Little More Of in Your Life?
The statement made by the presenter I am currently  listening to.

My answer: Blogging!
Yes, 10+ months  since my last post. There are many reasons why and I won't necessarily go into them at this time! Suffice it to say, I am going to post today. I intend to get back into the blogging saddle but... We will see...

#1 In the months I have been away, Blogger has undergone some major format changes and I don't even recognize the backside. A learning opportunity for me! I am trying to look at this change positively. That is what the speaker wants us to do. Not sure this post will be fancy (i.e. pictures and links)...might be too much for my brain to take in all at once! We will see...

#2 Time. Believe it or not, I haven't had a whole lot of time to blog. Retirement is a full time job these days...don't have time to compose a worthy message although I have had LOTS of random thoughts that I would say to myself would be good ideas for posts, but those moments flew away as quickly as they came. Maybe I will be able to recapture some of them. We will see...

#3 A VIP in my life has challenged me to write again...and since I always have done what he has told me to do...here I am doing what I was told! How well I do it (as in how often), well, we will see...

Ok, so now a little more meat in this post.
The second session speaker's quote that caught my attention:
Are we like the "frog in the bottom of the well?" 
Of course that caught my attention because of the frog part, but if you think about the statement itself, is your view of life limited to only what you see through a narrowly focused "lens"? Something for you to think about within your own framework.

Another interesting term from this speaker...
Did you know that as a Librarian each time you meet with a teacher one-on-one, you are doing conceirge professional development! I like that thought...positive term, point-of-need, personal time kind of idea.

Oops, one more
There are many ways to be a leader. But BEING A LEADER is not negotiable. (Emphasis was the speaker's.) Most folks in my circle are leaders these days, and good ones, and came to the position in a variety of ways. There are a few who are reluctant to take on the position and it is a difficult place to be these days. That's my observation only.

Where am I getting these kernels? I am attending my favorite library event...Texas Association of School Library Administrators in Austin this week. A whole room of school librarians and their brains! It is always such a good learning (and often by accident) experience. Yes, I'm retired, but the need for knowledge doesn't stop...and I'm not the only retired person in the room!

If you want more information about the speakers:
Sandy Slough from Region 20 ESC talked on Coping Skills for Today's Challenges
Kristin Fontichiaro, Univ of Michigan School of Information, Envisioning Solutions and Translating Ideas into Strategies....more specifically,  Growing Schools with PD, Librarians as Professional Developers. The first link is her slides, the second information she co-edited.

Hummm...
An interesting question just posed by Kristin.
How many of you were trained in how to present professional development? A room of about 60-70 library leaders... ONE hand went up...mine! Wow! A very interesting result to me.

Another hummm...
She spent a few minutes talking to the group about the 23 Things model of PD...
Might need to get my hands on the book and read that chapter!

Ok...enough for my first time back...that and the fact that this post is rambling. I will do better on my next one...there will another one...now when and what it will be about...we will see!