Techy Thoughts and Random Ramblings
  • Blog
  • About Mme Angela Burgess

Techy Thoughts & Random Ramblings

The haphazard thoughts et réflexions of a French teacher-turned-Tech Coach finding her own definition of success. 

Follow me on Twitter

Five: A Blog Survey - Challenge Accepted

31/8/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture

One of the #edurockstars that I follow on Twitter, Mari Venturino, re-posted one of her blog posts from March in which she challenged readers to reflect on their lives in groups of five. Sadly, I wasn't following her blog through my Feedly so I didn't see it then (no worries, I've rectified my error and added her to my feed!), but now that I have seen it, I've accepted her challenge. 

Some of the topics below are hers, some are my own additions. :) 

Five Places I'm Dying to Visit
As I say in my bio, travel is one of reasons for life and there are a lot of years left for me to explore.
  1. Scotland - I'm a HUGE fan of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series and want to see all the places she has brought alive for me.
  2. Prince Edward Island - Again with the books. This time, Anne of Green Gables.
  3. Hogwarts - Yes, I know it's not really real, but I keep waiting on my letter.
  4. ISTE - Duh?
  5. Some sort of beachy, over-the-water private room/resort - I'm not actually sure how much I would want to STAY in one of these, but I definitely want to visit.

Five Tasks I Do Every Day
  1. Update digital signage at my school with daily announcements - I use Google Slides for this so that I don't have to walk around to every TV.
  2. Tell someone how to log in to their school Google Apps for Ed account
  3. Put my son to sleep - He's way too old for this to still be cool, but he lets me do it anyway
  4. Walk my puppies - My family has two rescue pups (5 years apart) and they get walked 3 times every day
  5. Try to improve my practice - Books, Twitter, blogs, conversations with those at my school, whatever I can find to help me be better at serving teachers

Five Talents I Wish I Had
  1. Feeling comfortable with not knowing something in a pressure moment
  2. Being able to dance (traditional dance studio dance, like ballet, lyrical, jazz...)
  3. Emotional control - When I feel stressed or cranky or sad, I tend to let it affect my relationships. This is amplified even more if I am rushed to get things done or am running on too little "me time."
  4. "WOO"- In her post, Mari said that she wanted to be able to handle the people who "woo" (Strengths Based Leadership) Like her, I'm an introvert. In addition, I struggle with some anxiety problems (they feel severe to me, but I know that in reality, they're NOTHING). I can handle most extroverts but I also secretly wish I was able to be more like them sometimes.
  5. Invisibility - Common question among Harry Potter fans :) 

Five Leaders I Wish I Could Work With
  1. George Couros
  2. Eric Sheninger
  3. Alice Keeler
  4. Cat Flippen
  5. Hermione Granger

Five Twitter Hashtags I Love
  1. #forsythpln - weekly chat by my district
  2. #LambertLeaders - new chat just started by my school for Aspiring Leaders at Lambert High School
  3. #colchat
  4. #satchatwc - I just can't wake up early enough for the regular #satchat
  5. #langchat - The French teacher in my heart loves this one

FIve Books I Own Waiting to Be Read
  1. Kids Deserve It
  2. Hacking Leadership
  3. Blended Learning
  4. Uncommon Learning
  5. Digital Leadership

Five Things in My House at ALL Times
  1. Coffee
  2. Creamer (Dunkin Donuts Extra Extra)
  3. Wine (Sauvingnon Blanc)
  4. Cheese (Brie, Chèvre, Gouda, Cheddar, Monterey Jack)
  5. Pasta

Five Things I Miss About the Classroom
  1. Student relationships
  2. Those can't be explained but somehow it all came together lessons
  3. Lightbulb moments
  4. Igniting a love of language, literature, and communication in someone who thought they hated French
  5. Instilling a sense of pride in someone who does well even though they thought they couldn't do it

0 Comments

Planner Perfection

29/8/2016

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

When our strengths don't match our thoughts

28/8/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
As part of the Aspiring Leaders group at my school, we are reading Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath. Our first assignment was to take the Strengths Finder quiz online to see what our strengths are. There are 34 "themes" on strengths divided into four different domains: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking.

Before taking the quiz, I looked at the different themes and highlighted those that I thought were my strengths. Most of the themes I see as my strengths were in Executing and Relationship Building, with only one in Strategic Thinking and one in Influencing. 

However, after taking the quiz, I found that I have my strongest strengths on Strategic Thinking and Executing, and NONE in Relationship Building. This came as quite a surprise and I've been struggling with my reaction. To be quite honest, I've always thought of myself as someone who gets along pretty well with others and can use those relationships to help encourage change. But this is now the third time in recent memory that I've been told that I need to work on my relationship-building skills, that I have a tendency to be too impatient with others, or that my attitude isn't quite right for the position that I'm in. As a classroom teacher, I had great relationships with my students and keep in touch with many of them still today (two weddings coming up for former students, one former student who (temporarily) followed in my French-teacher footsteps, several that I travel to see now that they've moved out of state). But it seems that I struggle with my peer relationships. That will need further reflection down the road.

On the other hand, I was pleased with the overall results. None of the themes that appear as my top five strengths upset or surprise me. The first three are easy to explain. I've been accused of having "my nose in a book" since I learned to read and the first thing I do when I have a question is to go find a book or website with more information. I also struggle with self-confidence, so the Restorative theme is a reflection of me constantly trying to be "good enough" based on what I see as my weaknesses. Lastly, I have worked very hard to overcome the challenges that I had growing up and to do what I can to keep others from experiencing those same obstacles. In my opinion, that is the reason for the Achiever theme.

Over the next few months, I'll continue reading and reflecting on my strengths. I will also spend some time reflecting on ways to improve on those themes that weren't in my top five. Quite obviously, I can't be equally successful at all 34 themes. But seeing our strengths honestly is part of what makes a good leader. 

Have you taken the Strengths Finder quiz? What were your strengths? Did your results confirm what you already knew or did they surprise you?


0 Comments

Paperless Alternatives

19/8/2016

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

    Meet Angela

    Angela Burgess is all of things said above.  If you want to know more, read what I think.

    Picture
    Tweets by @MmeBurgess

    Archives

    January 2019
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn
Proudly powered by Weebly