May Each Day Be "A Day of Small Things That Make a Big Difference"

This year was a big year for me both personally and professionally and it wasn't because of any big accolades or successes.  It was because I rediscovered who I am as a person, a teacher, an instructional coach, a graduate student, a runner, and a follower of my faith.

Last night's 11pm Christmas Service it all became more clear to me.  Brodie Swanson (one of Elmbrook's Pastors) shared the story of the birth of Jesus and he shared that Christmas is "A Day of Small Things."  He followed that up with, "A Day of Small Things That Make A Big Difference."  This made me question how I am living my life.  Am I searching and seeking the big things, or am I celebrating the small things (ie. small wins, successes, gratitude, and the moments that each day brings)?

I find it really easy for me to get caught up in this struggle and I feel a bit of it has to do with how I am wired based on my strengths identified on the StrengthsFinder Assessment:

1) Achiever

2) Restorative

3) Learner 

4) Input 

5) Significance

As I look into how those strengths are categorized,  my top strengths fall into the (2) executing, (2) strategic thinking, and (1) influencing categories.  It kind of surprises me because I would also consider myself a good relationship builder within my role of teacher and instructional coach.  I feel like I am growing most in this area and that it will be a greater strength in the future.

Achiever as a #1 strength is both a blessing and a curse.  "People strong in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard.  They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive" (Rath & Conchie, 2008, p.103).  I don't think this could describe my work ethic any more accurately.  It is really easy for me to get so engrossed in my work that I lose sight of some of the other things going on around me (ie. my personal interests and passions) outside of work.  I have come to accept that I am an integrator vs. a separator in which my personal passions and professional professions do have a significant overlap and quite often happen at the same time.  I need to be cautious of this because this has also led me towards periods of burnout and it occasionally causes me to question what I am doing both personally and professionally.

Restorative as my #2 strength is a testament of my interest in problem identifying and solution finding.  This is evident in my daily work as I find to seek ways to improve things in order to be more effective and efficient at the same time.  This also has a tendency to get me in trouble as I find myself passionate about a lot of things and end up joining committees and teams to see some of this work forward.  I am more conscious of my limitations today as this not only happens in my professional life at work, but also in my personal life helping others, and within volunteer role in the community as a Board Member on the Friends of Retzer Nature Center Board.  I frequently have ideas to move our work forward but I have to be cautious of my capacity and the time required to move some of those ideas forward.

I am not surprised at all that Learner is part of my top 3.  My excitement for learning gets me in trouble because I get frustrated when I don't have the capacity to try everything.  If someone were to ask me what I am most passionate about in education, I could not narrow it down to one idea.  That also causes a problem when it comes to narrowing down my idea for my grad school research project.  In education I am passionate about: personalized professional development, personalized learning, mastery based learning, leadership, building culture, and growing student leadership within a building (just to name a few).  This list quite possibly could go on forever...

My career as a student is also a representation of my love of learning as when I pursue degrees I go for the four course meal.

Candidate for Bachelors of Science in Education 

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (December 2010)

Secondary Education Biological Sciences with Ecology/Field Emphasis

Minors: Chemistry & Spanish

Endorsements: Broadfield Science 

WI DPI Licenses:  601 (Broadfield Science), 605 (Biology/Life Science), 610 (Chemistry), 615 (Environmental Studies), 635 (Earth/Space Science)

Candidate for Masters of Arts - Leadership and Innovation 
Wisconsin Lutheran College (Spring 2019)
WI DPI Licenses: (51) Principal and (10) Curriculum and Instruction
Certificates:  Adult Education and Instructional Coaching

Candidate for A.A.A.S Landscape Horticulture - Landscape Design & Maintenance 
Milwaukee Area Technical College (In progress)

The learning mentioned above includes the formal learning that I have pursued.  That is only a small snapshot of the professional learning that I engage in.  It does not include the numerous twitter chats, conferences, participation in edcamps, PLN meet-ups, reading and blogging that I engage in professionally with my PLN.

Input my #4 strength identifies with my strength as a learner and restorative because I like to seek out information to be a resource to others.  If I don't have the information right at my fingertips, I frequently know how to get it and will go out and seek out the information on my own.  I enjoy being resourceful and try and pair it with my role as a learner.

Significance my #5 strength is one that also gets me in trouble because it pushes me to achieve big goals.  People that are strong in the significance category are usually independent and seek recognition to help build their sense of purpose.  If there is one area that I would want to work on eliminating from my strengths it would be this area.  I would rather it not be about me, but rather lifting up others and helping them to find their significance.

The picture here is to remind me that each day should be
"A Day of Small Things That Make a Big Difference."  I also
have a video that goes with this as well.  We need to be the light
in others lives and I need to make that a personal mission for 2018.

My big takeaway for 2018 is that I need to be more mindful of my strengths and need to do a better job of living by: "A Day of Small Things That Make a Big Difference."  I need to do a better job of identifying the small wins and small celebrations towards achieving bigger tasks and goals and focus less on meeting them as a whole.  I have already committed to bullet journaling around my goals, bucket list, and identifying moments of gratitude each day.  I also want to take that a step farther by not only identifying things and moments that I am grateful for, but also by recognizing them and others for their part in these moments.  That may be through an email or personal message placed in a mailbox or sent via snail mail.  I also need to slow down to be able to enjoy more of these moments in life.  I need to make a promise to myself to keep the achiever in me in check to make sure that I am tackling both professional and personal goals for the year.  I also need to do a better job being mindful of the strengths of those around me in coaching and team teaching relationships.

References

Conchie, B., & Rath, T. (2008). Strengths based leadership: great leaders, teams, and why people follow. New York, NY: Gallup Press.