Sharing the Joy

There's nothing like the energy you get from connecting with "your people". Those kindred spirits that share the same vision and passion you have for your life's work. I am so grateful for the opportunity last weekend to gather with my people at Conference on the Young Years (CYY) sponsored by the Missouri Department of Education. Truly some of the most caring souls in the world are primary grade teachers! We all embrace new strategies to help us in this vitally important job of establishing a strong foundation and love of lifelong learning in our students.

My friend Mary and I were able to attend Red Grammer's seminar.  What a great singer and
cool cat! (Totally see where his son Andy Grammer gets his pipes!) I am
looking forward to teaching my preschoolers his new Circle of Light songs...so awesome.

This weekend I was reminded once again that CONNECTION IS KEY. Without connection with our students, there is no trust. Without trust, there is no learning. I am inspired (as the busiest and potentially most stressful time of the school year comes upon us) to redouble my efforts and deepen the connections I have to my students and their families. It's an investment that deserves my best efforts because the dividends of doing so are invaluable.

Our students aren't the only ones that we should be reaching out to and digging deeper in an effort to build relationships. Likewise, it is essential that we educators connect with each other. Connection is knowing you're not alone. You have a "family" to share in the journey. And the journey is about making a difference in the lives of kids.

Kudos to Shawna, Karen, and Taylor for rearranging lessons to incorporate STEM Friday!

You just never know when an old bicycle wheel is going to illustrate a
new way of thinking about technology!
Thanks to Jenny for the shout out on Instagram during my presentation.

I have yet to find a profession whose people are more willing to share their ideas and inspirations with their colleagues than education. We don't consider this important business of changing the world by investing in children as a competition where our strategies and successes are to be guarded and only kept for the benefit of the students within our own classrooms. WE CARE ABOUT KIDS PERIOD. So there is this magnificent freedom to disperse anything and everything that might encourage and help our colleagues because we know it will positively impact that many more young lives and make this world a better place. Ergo, we experience an incredible sense of joy when we share our inspirations because we know that great outcomes will result at multiple levels in a variety of places!
<<Click here for bonus view of STEM presentation!>>

So glad to be able to share my vision statement
as a reminder of why we do what we do. Thanks for your
tweet, Ms. Taylor.  Congratulations on winning the door prize!

I was so pleased to see the awesome early childhood educators that I had the pleasure of presenting to embrace sharing the joy. More than just a presentation, it was an opportunity to connect and interact... which is always better than just passive listening! We had such a fun, productive time trading ideas and practicing how to be intentional in developing problem-solving skills through implementing STEM in preschool. And you know what else? Their eagerness to post their take-aways on social media, make notes, take pictures, and share resources with their teacher friends back home had the added benefit of encouraging me. I am more convinced than ever that helping other teachers is another level of education that I should keep
engaging in whenever possible and however creatively I can.
<<Click here for my free STEM Journal resource!>>
This post is dedicated to those special people I got to meet at CYY. Thank you for helping me share the joy and committing to explore and implement new ideas that are going to develop your students into great scientific and mathematical thinkers.  You will love this creative endeavor!

I honestly can't think of a better compliment after a STEM workshop than a participant expressing that STEM is no longer scary.  Abby, you made my day!