Library of Congress, Hits it Out of the Ballpark!

My week at the Library of Congress Summer Institute for Civil Rights has been one of the best weeks of professional development I've experienced. I will not lie, it was extremely intense! I am certain I used up every ounce of brain juice. The analysis of primary sources was a total hook for an organic engagement of inquiry, collaboration and reflection.

Using the Project Zero thinking routines as a framework, each analysis activity had us actively invested in the process in so many different ways.

I was fortunate that I was familiar with the routines and had attended a Project Zero Casie conference all about thinking routines just 3 months before attending the Institute. Visible thinking strategies provide a framework to prompt students to be deep thinkers and synthesize new knowledge. The visible thinking, most importantly, shows the process of thinking not just a final answer. The book provides a menu of critical thinking activities that work with just about any learning opportunity. It's a wonderful way to keep the learning low-risk and open-ended. Visible thinking strategies also dovetailed perfectly with the analysis of primary sources. Some of the routines we used while analyzing primary sources were Headlines (great for synthesis) and Circle of ViewPoints (powerful way to tackle perspectives). 

Map Group Activity Ending with a Creation of a Headline

Another automatic go-to are the Library of Congress primary source analysis tools which scaffold the inquiry process for just about any possible primary source. There is also a web version available.

One of the perks to attending the Institute was the after hours tour of the Jefferson Building's Reading Room. We had total VIP access! I wish I could have bottled up the excitement as we entered the Reading Room, total giddiness. It reminded me of just a few months ago when I was at the Washington Memorial with eighty 8th grade students, and we ran into Usher doing a soundcheck for an Earth Day concert. 

     

We also had the incredible fortune to hear a panel made up of Rosa Parks' dear friends from the Rosa Parks Institute in Detroit: Elaine Steele, Lila Cabbil, Anita Peek, Dr. Roberta McLeod, Ella McCall-Haygen and other friends June Jeffries and Joe Madison. They shared with us Parks' courage and how she valued relationships. The ladies then hung out with us for part of the week. It was a truly surreal experience. 

Ella McCall-Haygen, me & Dr. Roberta McLeod

Panel of Rosa Parks' Friends

One of my favorite parts of the institute was the opportunity to tour the Library of Congress exhibit The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom. We were partnered up and were assigned to an exhibit case. We were then asked to select something that we connected with in the case and later present it to the group. We had questions to guide us in the process. It was jigsaw at its best! I'm totally stealing this idea next time we take our students to a museum.

Some of my major primary source takeaways I plan on using to ignite inquiry are:

• Focus on the voices behind the movement. I plan on highlighting Bayard Rustin, an openly gay man, that was the mastermind behind the March on Washington but is rarely noted.

• Include raw, unfiltered primary sources throughout the year as much as possible. Coming across a Daisy Bates letter regarding the poor treatments of black students at Central High, specifically mentioning Minniejean (visits our school every year during our Civil Rights unit), I consider hitting the jackpot! There is a goldmine of sources available.

• When teaching about the Civil Rights unit, I plan to include primary sources from slavery, Revolutionary War, to current events to represent the long and still much present struggle of social justice.
• During my Native American unit, I will fold in powerful Indian boarding school primary sources . I'm thrilled that there is actually a "Nashville" connection too. Adding this slice of history makes a connection later on in the year with the Civil Rights unit's focus on school segregation and civil rights violations. 

I walked away from the Summer Institute with a better idea on how to maximize the access/usage of the Library of Congress digital sources. The experience has totally transformed me, and I cannot wait to implement new ideas with my students. I've walked away a better teacher with an arsenal of best practice pedagogy and a passion for learning with primary sources. During the Institute, I was in the company of other educators that share my passion for learning and history! I have a feeling some of those friendships will continue inspiring me beyond our time together in Washington D.C.

Learn Like a Pirate!

I absolutely love summer! It gives me time to reflect, learn and act. Over the summer, I always fit in workshops/conferences and reading my highly anticipated stack of books. I learned via Twitter that @PaulSolarz has a wealth of knowledge which he generously shares. I was so excited when I heard he had written a book, no more 140 character limit! Paul Solarz's book Learn Like a Pirate pushed me to think about the way I run my classroom, taught me a few tricks, and now I am committed to create some change.

 I consider my classroom already to be student driven, but Paul's book has some practical suggestions that I can easily implement to iron out some of the bumps I run into.  Here are some changes I am creating in my classroom this year:

• Give Me Fives: What a wonderful way to empower students to step in and take the reins. I typically ask students to step forward to share with the class. By being the sole person to make these calls, I'm positive I am missing learning opportunities that everyone would benefit from, including me! I plan to introduce give me five at the beginning of school along with the rest of my rituals. I have a feeling it is going to be liberating and up the ante of our learning community.

• Post Daily Schedule: I tried this out a few times last year but was not consistent. I aim this year to stick with it. I feel this small change will help with my class activity transitions, which don't always run as smoothly as I wish. When I am in a workshop/conference, I too like to know the agenda.  I owe this piece to my students.

• Pulling Popsicle Sticks for Partnerships/Groupings: Grouping students is one area of my job, I don't enjoy.  I love the popsicle stick idea for grouping on the fly. As Paul states in his book, "Random partnerships help build strong student relationships amongst everyone in the room."

• Good versus Bossy Leadership: Students regularly collaborate in my classroom. Year after year, I run into a few students that hijack a group's efforts. The teacher-student discussion is a total balancing act, because I don't want to discourage the students from leading. Paul suggests in these instances to pull the student aside and ask them if their behavior is displaying good leadership skills or has crossed over into bossiness.  As teachers, we need to nudge the kids to lead with kindness by making them aware of their tone. I plan to front load the discussion when I present the collaborative group expectations, but will not miss out on the opportunity to provide feedback along the way!

• Student Reflection: The last couple of years I have gotten better by factoring in time for students to reflect on their learning. E-portfolios have been a great platform to record reflections. At times, I have overthought the process of guiding the students in this process. I have learned that you are better off by providing students with some guiding questions. Paul has great go-to questions to prompt deeper thinking during and after the learning process that I am totally stealing!

• Describe what happened or what you did during the lesson.
• To explain your learning experience provide: 

strengths and weaknesses

successes and setbacks 

hard and easy

• What did you learn due to the experience?
• What can you do to improve your learning? How will you extend your learning past what is expected?

There's much more in the book to check out including some active learning ideas, resources and 21st century skills. The book has QR codes that link up to Paul's website which is full of examples of student work, a great source for inspiration. Off to the next book in my reading stack, summer is near the end for me!

Historians as Work!

It's always exciting to plan and implement a new project, especially one packed with rich learning opportunities. Our school is turning 100 this year. So in honor of our centennial year, I designed an inquiry based project that would celebrate our school's history throughout the decades. My plan was to promote historical thinking as students analyzed primary sources and shared their findings in a digital story. What I did not expect was the high level of student engagement. Class periods seemed to be cut in half and students left class begging for more, a teacher's dream! I also got sucked in and was actively learning beside them as we uncovered the layers of our school's history.

The first step to creating the project was to identify the targeted skills I could integrate into the project such as:

- working in collaborative groups

- comparing/contrasting ideas

- analyzing primary sources

- inquiry & researching

- close reading, inferencing & summarizing

- sourcing & citations

- interviewing & presenting

Actually, the list of skills seemed to expand as the project evolved. For instance, I decided to weave in literary devices in order to prompt more descriptive writing.  The amount of technology skills embedded into this project was really off the charts too.

Building Background Knowledge

I invited colleagues to stop by our classroom to share stories about our school's inception. I felt this would give everyone a foundation of where and how it had all started. In the process, it ignited curiosity and a sense of excitement among the students.

   

The Time Capsule Hook

In order to kick off the project, I taught a mini-lesson on primary and secondary sources. I showed the students a clip of the 1795 time capsule that was recently found in Boston and another clip that revealed what was inside the capsule. I announced that we were about to embark on a similar mission to in order tell our school's story. They could not wait to start!

Creating an Archivist Mindset

Photographs:
To prepare my students to analyze photographs with a critical eye, I used a class activity I call Zooming In. Using my Smartboard, I revealed a photograph bit by bit, stopping to discuss: What do you wonder? What do you notice? What do you think? It was a great way to slow down the process of analyzing photographs. I would not reveal more of the photograph until all thoughts were exhausted. I was impressed by the questions and inferences students made. Students were surprised by how much information they could get from a single photograph.



Objects:
Prior to starting this project, I visited different antique shops around town to scout out unusual antique objects. Each group was assigned an object to analyze its design and purpose. Then, I brought out the modern day versions of the objects, so students could compare and contrast the objects.

 

Our school is very fortunate to have their own school archivist on staff, Jenny Winston. So, I took full advantage of her expertise and passion for primary sources. First, she and I worked closely brainstorming ways we could use the primary sources from our school's collection. After kicking around a few ideas, we decided on the concept of building decade boxes from the 1920s to the 1970s. She selected an assortment of primary sources, with 5th graders in mind, such as photographs, letters, newspapers, textiles, graduation rings, and yearbooks. She also scanned some of the sources from each decade and shared the Google Drive decade folders. So, the students had access to the digitized primary sources. They also had access to our school's virtual, interactive timeline and digital archives website which holds a larger collection than what could be found in their digital folders.

Decades GDrive folders with digital primary sources

On her first visit to our class, Jenny, brought a few interesting primary sources for the students to check out. She went over how to appropriately handle the sources in order to preserve them, by laying them flat to examine and turning the pages gently at the edge, all while wearing gloves. Honestly, there was something about the idea of students wearing white gloves as they handled the primary sources that transformed their mindset from a typical 5th grade student to a passionate archivist on a mission. It was like the white gloves came with investigative superpowers!

Let the Investigations Begin!

Students worked in groups of 3-4. They selected a decade of interest from 1920'-1970's and were provided a rubric. Each decade's inquiry was anchored with the same essential question, In what ways has USN preserved its traditions and evolved throughout the decade? Students were also provided with suggested focal areas of investigation (academics, sports, club/social, and facilities) but were encouraged to modify them as needed.  The project was easily differentiated based on the complexity of the primary source selection from different texts to photographs. Each primary source naturally provided the students with a breadcrumb trail to another source. Students were totally immersed in the challenge of piecing the puzzle together. One student made the connection of how he felt like Sherlock Holmes as he investigated. It was quite a scene to see their excitement as they connected the dots of their discoveries.

Analyzing Primary Sources

Technology Playing a Part

Technology only enhanced the process of investigating and reporting their findings. Students used the web to access secondary sources to answer questions that came up in their investigations like What is kitten ball? and How do you dance the jitterbug? They quickly discovered that taking pictures of primary sources allowed them to use the iPad as a magnifying glass, so they could zoom in and out on an image. Onsite reporting was a snap with a mobile device. Students used their iPads to take photos of the school and to interview faculty members. Our athletic campus is not located on our school's campus; not problem for my students, they cleverly realized they could use GoogleEarth to obtain street and ariel views. We used Book Creator to produce the digital stories. Students were encouraged to "smash" apps, and they did not hesitate to do it using PicCollage, Explain Everything and iMovie apps. Each student produced their own pages and later the group's pages were merged into one book.

                                                       

                                                               Book Creator Cover

It's Showtime!

Presentations were practiced in class and students were reminded not to read to the audience, but to aim at presenting the big ideas of their decade. They were also required to present dressed in attire representative of their decade. It was entertaining to hear a 5th graders interpretation on their decade such as how teachers never smiled in the 20s.

Changes for the Next Time Around...

It is wonderful when the outcome exceeds the expectations, and that's exactly what happened with this project.  The experience heightened my awareness that the level of student engagement and problem solving mindset increases significantly when primary sources are in the mix. This experience has motivated me to find ways for primary sources to be at the core of my instruction, promoting critical thinking and problem solving throughout the entire learning process. As I reflect, there are just a few items I would consider changing. In addition to the essential question, I provided students with supporting questions. A few students were paralyzed when they could not find answers to the supporting questions, even though they were told they did not have to answer all of them. While a few other students felt like they were done researching once the supporting questions were answered. I meant the supporting questions to be jumping off point not a means to the end. Next time, I would instead provide them with general questions that scaffolds the process of making observations & interpretations with the primary sources.

I feel we also underestimated the use of the digital primary source collection website. Initially, we felt the students would be overwhelmed by the amount of sources. However, once they figured out how to browse with tags, it was smooth sailing. Using the website would eliminate the need to share the decades GDrive folders. Groups collected and sourced their research on a shared GDoc. I might instead consider using Padlet next year.  I would also start off the project with each group researching the main historical events of their decade, before giving them access to the primary sources.

Lastly, I would consider a class trip to the Tennessee State Library of Archives next year prior to starting the research. This would add another level of authenticity to the entire experience.

While we will only be celebrating a centennial year once, I have a feeling this project will be experienced for many years to come!

AM-LEarning 2014!

I can't believe this is my 5th year teaching in the middle school, and I have never heard of the AMLE (American Middle Level Educators) conference until their arrival to Nashville this year. It was two and half days of quite an assortment of learning opportunities. The conference was was kicked off with a group of motivating keynote speakers such as Dave Burgess, Cedrick Gray, Nikki Woodson & Kim Campbell. Mission accomplished, I walked out of the ballroom totally pumped and honored to be an educator.

I'm recording all of the brilliant ideas I saw this weekend before I forget them, or I file them away never to be seen again.

Teach Like a Pirate - Dave Burgess
My first session was the Teach Like a Pirate session with Dave Burgess. I had already read his book a couple of years ago, and his performance strongly reinforced the idea of creating an experience for kids by making the lessons come alive. While his lesson on teaching the branches of government was in his book, seeing it in person completely makes sense now. I am totally stealing this idea!

LGBT - Norma Bailey
Due to the horrible service at the restaurant as I waited for my lunch, I almost missed this session. I am so glad I walked out without my lunch. Norma was amazing! She beautifully stated that gay students are no more special than other students, but they are no more less either. So, how can we break the silence? Her suggestions included:

• Make LGBT issues explicit in the curriculum. 

• Easy to infuse in social studies with current events. Civil Rights unit is a natural path, not everyone has civil rights. A great essential question: What starts a civil rights movement?
• Language arts by using good literature such as:  Annie On My Mind, SP likes AD!, The Misfits (perfect for middle school), I am Jazz (picture book)

• Identify when an author is gay or lesbian.
• Science: genetics unit - Why are people gay?
• Math: Bring in graphs about LGBT data/people.
• http://glsen.org/nonamecallingweek
• How to handle harassment:
• Stop the harassment
• Identify the harassment
• Broaden the response
• Ask for change in the future

Close Reading
I also attended a few close reading sessions. The tying in of text evidence, finding patterns, and the value of questioning was pretty much the focal point in all of the sessions. Some ideas I want to try out are:

• Using metaphors to extend the thinking. "How is _____ like ________?" (example: How is water like electricity?) Then having the kids go back to the text to find text to support it. 
• Using the 5W & 1H to pull key details found in the text, then having students share and anchor it back to the text by having them provide the page number where the information was found.
• Image analysis by 1st asking students "What do you see?" then using a Sense-O-Gram chart
• Ask "What did the words make you see?" instead of "What did you read?"

Motivate & Engage Students to Think Critically through Close Reading of Complex Text - Leah Ames
Love the idea of students experiencing the value of multiple interactions with the text to deepen understanding by using the short clips from www.theinvisiblegorilla.com and the Doritos "Missing Cat Super Bowl XLVI" commercial.

Doritos Commerical
1st view What did you notice?
2nd view How did it happen?
3rd view Why or why not?

Another suggestion was to use songs such as "Brave" by Sara Bareilles, which generated a deep discussion among our group.

Note & Notice by Kylene Beers & Bob Probst
This duo did not disappoint! I had read their wonderful book and am anxiously awaiting their non-fiction version to be published. They ran through teaching kids to notice the six signposts with their accompanying anchor questions. Tell kids to read with their PENCIL in their hand! These strategies are helpful because the kids know the questions, so they will also know the answers or at least be looking for them as they read. Using this method gives the students ownership to the text.

If You Can't Manage Them, You Can't Teach Them! - Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell is an energetic and motivating presenter!  I was so impressed I sat through two of her sessions. I plan to buy her book on Monday.

Here are some of her ideas I plan to use:

• Partner Talking strategy 
• Partner A (talker) & B (listener - smile/nod only)
• Talk for 30 seconds (timers were a big deal, sense of urgency)
• Teacher approaches B to tell her what A said
• Brain Breaks (students can only listen to their age in minutes)
• Pinky and hand movement
• Get the Wiggles Out - 12345 (arm), 12345 (other arm), 12345 (each leg), 12345 (tush), 1234..., 123...., 12..., 1...
• Egg, Chicken, Cow, Human - Rock, Paper, Scissors 
• Rock, Paper, Scissors - sit when you lose, can get back up when their opponent loses to another person
• Groupings
• Index card 4 square to group up, 2 they pick and 2 where you give a criteria, helps with quick groupings
• Signals
• claps
• eyes on me
• hands on head
• chanting "When I say middle, you say school"
• Don't have more than 3-4 pet peeves at a time (try foam sheet for desk tappers)
• Never use "sh" 
• Use EXPECTATIONS not RULES - rules are meant to be broken
• NEVER redirect the same kid about a behavior twice! Hold them accountable.
• Post it Note Review Study Strategy (make extras for the early finishers)
• Write a name of a person, place or thing on post it
• Exchange Post It's (without seeing what the new post it says), put it on forehead
• Ask classmate 3 questions to try to figure it out
• Come back to seat when music starts 
• Draw it! Describe it! Do it!
• 1 or 2 = draw it (Pictionary)
• 3 or 4 = describe it
• 5 or 6 = do it, act it out
• Keyword Prediction - pre-reading strategy. Post random keywords for students to predict with their AB partners, collaborate as they play around with the words, even make up questions then ask teacher question. Then bring it up a notch by showing an image - what do you notice, wonder?
• 20 Word Summary in exactly 20 words summarize the main points after a 10 minute lecture.
• Mystery Participate - put 3 student names in your pocket, if all three of the kids participate get to play a round of Rock Paper and Scissor tournament. Don't tell them who it was if you don't meet the expectation.

AMLE's offerrings allowed me to be put a bit of everything on my learning plate. It was truly satisfying, just what I needed to take my teaching to the next level.

Understanding the World Through Geography

The National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) holds an annual conference that is hosted in different cities every year. This summer it was held in Memphis which seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to connect and learn along with other educators from around the globe. There were so many interesting sessions offered that I, at times, felt torn wanting to be in three different places at one time!

A major part of the sessions included student learning opportunities that incorporated Geographic Information System (GIS). Advances in technology now allow our students to have access to current data which engages them in analysis, interpretation and critical thinking related to data maps.  ArcGIS Online, a cloud based program, is one of those resources.  ArcGis along with Google Maps also allows for time travel to explore past landscapes throughout history. The idea is for students to become geo-literate, looking for patterns in real-time like where people live and why.

National Geographic also presented its recently launched resources that offers educators map-based materials designed to build spatial thinking skills. Their mobile friendly technologies allow students to create and share their own map-based, multimedia geotours.

In addition to the GIS concept, sessions included activities using literature to make connections to reading, primary sources and maps. I felt like I was making curricular tweaks with each session I attended! For instance this year in our Civil Rights unit, I plan to incorporate the Green Book (1936-1964) which helped African American automobile travelers identify accommodations during the Jim Crow era. The session showcased teaching strategies using the Green Book, as a primary source, and the picture book Ruth and the Green Book in relation to geographic advancements in studying race relations, mobility and civil rights.

  

The last day of the conference a quote posted from President Obama caught my eye, "The study of geography is more than just memorizing places on a map, it's about understanding the complexity of our world." It truly sums up how the conference reinforced the importance of geography and that maps tell stories. The possibilities of using 21st century technology just makes the learning experience more authentic and engaging.

Revamped Tech Infused Geography Unit

So I spent a great deal of my summer redesigning my dreaded geography unit. While the skills and objectives remained the same, the new and improved unit has more application practices. Having a set of 20 iPads living in my classroom has extended the possibilities as far as my creativity can run with it. I continue to use the five themes of geography as the framework for teaching geographical thinking. However, I felt I went much deeper this time around. In partnerships, the students worked on self selected landscape images from anywhere in the world. I partnered up with our school librarian in order to build copyright awareness. In the library classroom, students explored www.searchcreativecommons.org as a source for images. Most students found the most success using Wikimedia through the Creative Commons website.  

Students were also provided with the following rubric:

5 Themes of Geography Rubric Mini-Project - QUIZ GRADE

Criteria	Description	Points
Title	Must have location & each partner’s name.	5
Pins	* Each theme is represented by a different colored pin. * Must have at least one pin per geography theme. * Placement of the pins on image are related to labeled theme - with the exception of location, place, region.	20
Text	* Explanation of how the theme applies to the image must be accurate and clear. Do NOT just copy your notes or type the name of the theme. * Make sure to include how your theme is being applied to your image (ex. Movement: people, ideas, & good). * Need to include absolute & relative location.	30
Image	* Each pin must have a photo, with the exception of place. * Images for location and region themes must be maps. * Photos/maps add meaning or support to your text.	30
Sources	Include a pin different from the theme pins to represent your sources used (Wikimedia, Flickr, etc.)	10
Shared	Project is linked to edmodo group & labeled with location & each partner’s name.	5
	POINTS EARNED

Then off to the races we were, opening up Thinglink accounts, and crossing my fingers that the 5th graders would remember their passwords the next day. So much for crossing my fingers! Even having them use the same password/username as they had recently been assigned to sign into the school website proved not to be foolproof. Many of the students typed in their passwords/usernames incorrectly which led to the multiple requests to reset their accounts.

                                               

The project itself was wonderful! It will definitely be a repeat next year with a few tweaks. Thinglink was a terrific platform for the students to apply their knowledge of the five themes of geography. The Thinglink learning curve was minimal, very user friendly.  I then had them embed the link onto edmodo. A homework assignment was for the students to go into edmodo and provide meaningful comments to three of their peer's Thinglink projects. I then graded their projects right on edmodo. One bump I ran into was that embedding the link did not work for all students. The images would not completely load onto the site. Next year, I will have students simply link their project instead.

I was blown away by how must thought the students put into this project. We spend a total of three class periods working on this project, and it was totally worth it. Not only was I able to assess their geographical thinking, but I also evaluated how they worked collaboratively, their written expression and grammar skills along with how closely and accurately they followed a rubric. These were all great starting points for the new school year. Hoping our next geography U.S. states project using 30 Hands will be just as successful!

Here is one example of their work:

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/426744259429793792#tlsite

Summer Learning Reflection Game Changers

What a summer it has been, full of active learning - mostly self directed too. There was some traditional professional learning involved such as attending ISTE in San Antonio along with 10 other colleagues. This summer I experienced my first unconference, a PrincipalMeet and a TeachMeet. I also filled my learning time reading books such as "Essential Questions" by Grant Wiggins and "Design for How People Learn" by Julie Dirksen. However, most of my learning and collaborating was done virtually. I participated in book & weekly chats, listened to podcasts, watched webinars, collaborated with my PLN, and along the way made new Twitter connections. I was able to pick and chose areas that interested me the most, the ultimate DIY PD.

I spent a good amount of time learning and using new apps of which I plan to use with my students this year such as:

30 Hands

Aurasma

Thinglink

This summer has also been pivotal in shifting the way I design lessons. I actually spent a great deal of time revamping my most dreaded unit, geography. Paul Solarz (@PaulSolarz) played a big part in helping me rethink how and why I was teaching geography. It simply started with a tweet, and his comments on my Google document were extremely valuable. Just the spark I needed to take off with my planning. He is a wealth of knowledge and generously shares.

I also jumped in and started designing a class website using Google Sites. It is still a work in process, but I am feeling good about providing my students with a landing places to find resources, links, and information about my course/units. They too will be using Sites for their digital portfolios, another new experience for me. My students will continue to use Edmodo and Kidblog as collaboration platforms. I also started blogging myself. Which I find to be a powerful, reflection tool. It is so helpful to dump all of my thoughts and learning into a blog. I've also enjoyed reading other people's blogs. Now, I can share with my students my personal blogging experience, just as I expect them to be bloggers.

I also have more of an understanding of how the 20% Project concept works, and I connected with people on Twitter that I can rely on for support. I am so curious to see how the concept will work with my students.

My classroom will also be different this year. I've gotten rid of my teacher desk, my room instantly became larger. Instead of desk, I will have a rolling podium that will house my teacher laptop and iPad. Twenty iPads will be living in my room, no more anxiety as to whether I will have access to technology. This will be a game changer for sure!
                              

With all of my learning experiences in hand, I am so excited for the first day of school. When people ask me if am ready for school to begin, I immediately answer "YES!" I usually get a surprised "Really?" response. I can't wait to take my new learning and ideas out for a test drive. Hoping for smooth sailing, but I realize not everything will work as planned. I will embrace and learn from the failures and relish from each successful learning experiences. It's is going to be a great year!