As I sit here beginning to type this entry, we are at approximately 1.5 months of isolation due to the Coronavirus spread. When I wrote my first book about enduring the challenges of endurance racing and how they correlate with teaching, this current challenge was not even on my radar. Granted, even though the book has "teach" in the title, everything is very applicable to life in general. This is a good thing, since during these challenging times, I've been taking quite a bit of my own advice from the book.
That being said, during this crazy time, I've taken to Twitter to work with some of the great people in my professional learning network. Each day, for each chapter, I tag someone and give them one of the workouts from that particular chapter, to help in enduring this challenging time.
This individual is a friend who has worked in the education field in both the classroom and as an administrator. Below, you'll see the Twitter thread of his workout.
This individual is a friend and parent of the mom of one of my former students who has worked tirelessly within our school district. Below, you'll see the Twitter thread of her workout.
This individual is an educator, administrator, and friend who wears her heart on her sleeve. Below, you'll see the Twitter thread of her workout.
She actually texted her responses to me, so those thoughts are shared below.
-@L I'm actually pretty good at honing in on one thing and tuning out the world around me. The scarier thing is the weight of the list I carry around including responsibilities of tasks and meeting needs of people.
Chapter 4: The Murky Depths
This individual is a parent of a wonderful family whom I've had the privilege of teaching/coaching all three of her children.
Chapter 5: Have a Purpose
I was lucky enough to meet this phenomenal kindergarten educator, at a conference I presented at in Michigan, 2019. At the time of my presentation, she was pretty overwhelmed. Who wouldn't be? Teaching is a tough gig. Kindergarten is an enigma all in its own. Regardless, I'm glad we've remained in touch, and I check in on her often during the school year to make sure all is well.
Chapter 6: Just Keep Swimming
This chapter's challenge was met head on by an administrator I've come to know and respect on Twitter through chats and a mutual love for music!
Chapter 7: Be a Jedi in the Water
For Chapter 7, an educator who is part of my Professional Learning Network and whom I also went to high school with rose to the challenge. It has been great to reconnect with her after over 20 years!
Chapter 8: Effortless Pursuit
Chapter 8, Effortless Pursuit, was met head on by not only someone in my Professional Learning Network, but also my neighbor in our school! She's a great and innovative teacher, and I'm thankful she took part in this initiative.
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