I must plead guilty to the following:

I enjoy sleeping in until 9:30am, possibly 10:00am. I cannot stand the sound of silence…yes, it has a sound. When there is nothing to do, I itch for something to do OR I just make something happen.

I am a mover and a shaker, I must confess.

I do not sleep until a task is complete. I always feel like there is more that needs to be done, and I have fifty million going through my head…right now.

And, I don’t feel one bit guilty about who I am. I am who I am.

This past month I have indulged myself in books focused on personal growth (my preference of genre). To me, summer is a teacher’s time to rejuvenate, reflect and refresh. Yet, as I continue to read, I find an inkling of guilt that keeps nagging at my conscience. Why…? 

I feel guilty that I enjoy work. I enjoy the thrill of creating new lessons for my students, mapping professional development and connecting with students of all kinds.

I enjoy working. There I said it. Does that make me a workaholic or just passionate about what I do for a living? Is it bad? Some might say yes. Some might say no. Me? I say it’s who I am.

Life is full of growth. Personally and professionally, individuals continue to grow with each breath. Yet, lesson learned–through all of the growth remember to stay true to who you are. Because a book or a podcast or a person says, ‘you work too much’ or ‘you should do it this way’ doesn’t mean you need to do it that way. Follow your heart, go with your gut, and, ultimately do you.

Truth: Working brings me joy. Truth: I am Type A+++ kind of person. Truth: I am happy with who I am, but I am a work in progress.

Speak the truth to yourself and share with the world the real you. 

We are living in an ever changing world. Both educating and parenting our youth are taking on a completely different form, and we must take that next step to meet these changing needs of our students. This website serves as a resource for you to foster well-rounded 21st century citizens.

How might we develop life-long learners to become well-rounded 21st century citizens?

Rewind five years ago.

I am a rookie teacher in the small city of Williamsport, Pennsylvania at Loyalsock Township Middle School and I sit, frantically checking my email to catch up on the busy day. Daily bulletin…athletic eligibility…and then, an opportunity to become an instructional coach! A what? Like most young teachers, I jumped at any opportunity to get my feet in the door. I quickly learned what it meant to be a teacher leader through instructional coaching.

I was determined to change lunch room talk into teacher talk. I wanted to transform traditional learning experiences into 21^st century learning opportunities. I wanted to reach everystudent in every classroom. I wanted to affect change.

Fast-forward to today.

John Hattie (2009) mentions that one must believe with the “mindset that we can affect change” (p. 6). As a young teacher, I walked into this opportunity wanting to be part of something bigger. The only problem:  I didn’t know where to begin. After building relationships, working with my PIIC mentor and attending numerous PIIC workshops and even the statewide PLO, it’s evident that I am part of something bigger. I was given an inch, but I’ve gone a mile. I’m affecting change within the classroom, the building, and the district.

John Hattie challenges my thinking with three simple words:  know thy impact. Being an instructional coach has taught me my impact. I went into this position expecting to lead change. Yet, teachers are impacting my coaching daily. I’ve learned that being a change agent is not just about a coach leading change, but rather, sometimes true coaching takes place leading from behind the scenes. It’s a reciprocal effect—a true coaching model.

I have chosen to become a change agent. It’s in the way I walk; it’s in the way I talk, it’s in the way I teach. A coach is a coach in everything he or she does.

I coach through my teaching failures and humilities.  I coach thinking outside-the-box. I coach with a growth mindset. I coach for change.

As the coaching culture grows in our building, change is inevitable. Positive change is occurring in our building—teachers and students. As a collaborative team (administrators, instructional coach and teachers), we work together to build a scaffold approach to our Student Learning Objectives (SLOs). As a team, we create individualized learning plans for students based off of classroom data. As a team, we are transforming education for our students. We are leading from within.

Five years ago I accepted the role as an instructional coach not knowing what to expect. Today, I am an instructional coach. I am a teacher leader. I am a change agent. Tomorrow we all grow!

Zegarac, G. (2013). Know Thy Impact: Teaching, Learning and Leading. In Conversation , IV (2), 18.

In a 21^st century world, it is important to inspire 21^st century life-long learners who can communicate, collaborate, be creative and think critically. Fortunately, educators are now given the technological tools to motivate and engage students in a nontraditional way. I often reassure teachers, through my instructional coaching, that technology is not just one more implementation tool for teachers. Rather, technology should be used in the classroom to enhance an already created lesson to engage and motivate students on a deeper level. As teachers become more comfortable, teachers can begin to implement technology on a deeper level using the SAMR model.

When our building was introduced to the 1:1 initiative, I was the teacher that hesitated to implement the iPad and rarely scratched the surface at the modification and redefinition stages. Yet, I quickly realized that in order to improve my student learning with such a powerful device, I needed to modify and redefine some lessons using technology. So, I connected with fellow foreign language teachers and developed an action plan for my Spanish students to create their own blog that connected them to their passion in the foreign language. My students quickly learned that Spanish was all around them!

A technology innovator uses technology not just as a substitute, but rather an enhancer. Technology innovators reinvent routine lessons and professional development, within the classroom and school building, to engage and connect their audience. Innovators use technology as a tool to unify students and life-long learners to the learning that doesn’t just happen during normal school hours but beyond.

I am a technology innovator.

I connect my foreign language students to the world around them using skype and social media. I connect my teachers to fellow educators both locally and nationally using Twitter. I develop lessons that use technology to engage my students at a higher level of curiosity and critical-thinking. My co-workers develop new teaching strategies and best practices using resources supplied through the internet. On one hand, I lead my students through virtual field trips to Spanish-speaking countries using Google Earth.  On the other hand, I lead my co-workers in professional development using technology. I teach my Senior Internship students how to advocate for themselves using Google Plus. My co-workers and I advocate for our students using social media.

As a technology innovator, I strive to integrate technology into my classroom lessons for students and my professional development for teachers. In everything I do with technology, I connect. I develop. I lead. I advocate.

Do you know thy impact? Have you ever thought of thy impact?

Many teachers, including me, reflect daily on the impact they leave on their students both in and even outside the classroom. According to John Hattie (2009), the creator of the Eight Mind Frames of Teaching, “Teacher/leaders believe that their fundamental task is to evaluate the effect of their teaching on students’ learning and achievement” (p. 3). Educators often believe that success lies in the students themselves. We often hear that the students are high achieving; they put in the extra effort; they completed the work and the extra practice.  Yet, what we forget to mention is that educators have an impact on that students’ work ethic, and it is those educators that prep those students to conquer their work.

Think about it, how much impact do educators play in the success of the student? Teachers do not credit themselves enough for the impact they have on each and every student that comes in their classroom every day.

People frequently mention that success is all about who teaches where and how. It’s about what teachers know and do (p. 3).  Yet, what if someone were to say, “It is not about what teachers know and do but rather about what they think” (p. 3).

A teacher’s mind is like running a marathon—it just keeps going and going. At one point though a teacher’s mind focuses. When fifty eager eyes are staring at you, the sage on stage, teacher mode sets in and you begin to concentrate on the learning-taking place; the learning that you impacted. The ‘master lesson plan’ no longer matters; but rather, the impact that we have on our students and their learning takes precedence (p. 4).

So teachers, I leave you with a challenge. Stop and listen. Reflect. Silence your mind.

Listen to the sounds of your empty classroom; listen to the sounds of your rambunctious students. Listen to their complaints; listen to their laughter. Listen to their mistakes; listen to their successes. Listen.

Reflect on your students; reflect on yourself. Reflect on your faults; reflect on your feats. Reflect.

When all is said and done, pack up your bags, turn off your lights and smile. It is in this moment of silence—this quick water break in your marathon—where you will learn where to go next. You will see thy impact. You may not see thy impact today or tomorrow. Nor may you see thy impact in years to come. Yet, you are impacting each student in some way with every correction you make, every ear you lend, and every smile you give.

Teaching is all about one’s mindset; a positive mindset is contagious. Teaching is about passion; a passionate teacher can ignite the spark to a passionate learner. Teaching is accepting the unknown; the unknown empowers infinite learning.

Teaching is knowing thy impact.

Zegarac, G. (2013). Know Thy Impact: Teaching, Learning and Leading. In Conversation , IV (2), 18.