I'm Going to Present at a Conference

Well, yesterday was a FANTASTIC day.  I received TONS of compliments on my hair, and I won't lie... I'd liked them.  I liked the attention.  It felt good.  I'm certain that women just want to hear that they look good every now and then, and I got my fill of that yesterday.

I'm not sure if it was the hair, or the compliments, or neither but I was in a good mood yesterday.  I felt cheerful, optimistic, and had some pep in my step.  One of my co-workers playfully joked around and told me that I felt like "hot stuff" how.  Sad thing was, I kinda did.  Not "hot stuff" as in sexy or good looking, but in the sense that I felt more empowered, like it took me out of my shell a little.

And to go hand-in-hand with that more confident feeling came a surprising piece of information.  My principal told me that she wants me to go with her to a conference on Friday and PRESENT on using Minecraft in the classroom.

At first, I was completely dumbfounded.  Scared. Unsure.  I mean, I have only been using it a couple of weeks, and didn't really feel like I could offer much of a presentation being that my kids and I are basically creating the lesson plans each week as we go along.  But, when she told me it would be a 10-15 minute presentation and could totally be about the fact THAT the kids and I were making up our lessons as we went along... I felt a little more excited.

I've never done any form of public speaking like that.  I mean, I've spoke in front of large crowds.  That doesn't bother me a bit.  I've presented to college classes and at meetings.  But, at a conference? With lots of people I don't know... one of them being Alan November?  Yeah, that makes me a little nervous.

Alan November is basically an educational guru.  He's an author and creator of various professional development courses for teachers.  He has a website that you can check out, if you're interested:  www.novemberlearning.com  

It's all very exciting.  I've been hearing about Alan November for a long time from my principal and others who have attended his workshops and conferences.  To know that I'll be standing up in front of him and telling him a little about what I'm doing in my classroom is a huge honor and privilege.

Of course, now I have to get a presentation ready.  And with only a couple of days to do to it, I'm nervous.  I have SOOOO much going on this week with track meets, ball practices, etc. I'm not able to stay very long after school each night... so I really have to buckle down during my planning time to see what I can put together.  

Thankfully, I started the blog for my classroom.  That will help.  I've been trying to write a new post about our latest endeavors, and I guess I really need to buckle down and get that done.  The kids have been applying our latest learning about area and perimeter to create architectural plans of the house they want to build in the game.  They had to figure out dimensions, total area and perimeter, and the area and perimeter of each room.  This week, we have moved in to learning about 3D shapes, so they will now create a 3D representation (on paper) of their building, adding in the dimension of height.  They than take their plans to the computers and build their house in Minecraft.  

I've actually been pretty good about taking pictures and documenting the learning that's taking place, so as long as I get on the ball and put it all in to a nice presentation, the concern will be more about whether I can fit it all in to a 10-15 minute presentation, rather than wondering how I will fill that amount of time.

And I'll do that while typing up my softball practice schedule, and grading papers, and entering in grades, and after driving an hour to a track meet and an hour home again, and after my own softball practice, and even after Butter's practice on Thursday if I have to.

If I don't become the queen of multitasking by the end of this school year, I don't know if I'll ever be.  Holding down so many different ventures and personal activities is tough, but I can't ever complain that I'm bored or lead a boring life.  

Jelly had her first T-ball practice last night, but unfortunately I didn't get to be there.  I had to attend "Art Night" at school.  Thankfully, Jelly has a coach that didn't mind keeping Jelly for me during the practice, and Jelly wasn't upset that I wouldn't be there.  She even told me that there would be LOTS of practices for me to watch.  Apparently, I'm raising that girl to understand how busy I can be sometimes.  But, I will DEFINITELY be at her practice on Wednesday... well, for half of it.  My own team will be practicing at the same time.  

Art Night was lots of fun.  I was so happy to see so many families come out and enjoy the art activities and see the artwork that the students have made all year.  Our school cafeteria really did resemble a fancy art gallery.  There were artist impersonators, kids dressed up as art work, cupcakes that were made to look like an artist's palette, and all kinds of fun activities for the kids to try such as drip painting, dot paining, and even graffiti art.

Peanut and Butter had a blast and tried out all the activities.  I felt a little sad, because I know that Jelly would have really enjoyed taking part, but given the choice between Art Night and T-Ball practice, she went with practice.  That girl has been on my case for MONTHS about playing a sport, so she was all kinds of excited when it was FINALLY time yesterday.

It was no surprise that by the time we pulled in to the driveway around 8PM last night, I was more than ready for bed.  I spent a little time chatting with Hubby, got the kids fed and ready for bed, and then it was straight to bed for me.  And now I'm ready for another VERY full and exciting day today.

Which I better start getting ready for RIGHT NOW.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!!