Bullet Journal

Bullet journaling has become my new therapy and secretary all in one. I have always been a notebook person who doodles, creates list, and throws a touch of art and color in there whenever possible. Like many of you, bullet journals began to saturate my Pinterest browsing and I quickly became addicted. Then I saw it take hold on my colleagues and friends, and I was in!

Over the years I have received many journals from students as gifts and was never sure what to do with them all...until bullet journals entered my life. The best part about bullet journals is you can create it with many items that you already have and there are no rules, do you.

I started with the basic calendar pages and the learning curve is evident as I progressed through the months. By November I figured out a layout that best fit the needs and journal I had.


Use: school calendar dates, tracking effective education, professional development, and personal dates.

Next I thought about all the tasks I wanted to track and created the following layouts/pages:
blog ideas-recording ideas as they come

teacher goals: new things I want to try and breaking bad habits


to read list: middle grade books


tracking clock hours: recording and totaling clock hours with a goal of hours wanting to be reached


I have many other ideas running through my head, now to think about the best way to create them in my bullet journal.

I am not sure if what I am doing is a true bullet journal, but I can say I know that in the up coming school year this will be great therapy for me that will also have big pay off in keeping me organized and on track.

On a final thought, the teacher in me coming out, is now thinking how students would love this. I want to think of ways students could do this with their own lives in and out of school. I am thinking they could track academic and personal goals, reflecting on learning, tracking their journey with growth mindset, there are so many options. I love that this type of journal is personalized and there is no one way. I can see this being very liberating for many of my students. And an added bonus of gaining a skill that will remain useful throughout their lives.

WABS STEM Externship

"STEM Externships provide teachers with a fresh look at today’s science, technology, math, and engineering workplace through hands-on work and mentorship. Our state is home to innovative, cutting-edge STEM industries yet we struggle to attract local talent to rewarding STEM careers. As a STEM extern, your increased exposure to educational and career possibilities can help you shape students’ visions for their future upon graduation."  (WABS)

As I was almost through the 2015-2016 school year I was thinking about what I would do with my summer as a person who likes to keep their mind working. I am always looking for ways to earn extra cash to pay down those student loans, so when I received an email in April seeking externs I was intrigued. Knowing that these opportunities can be hard to come by I quickly went to the link provided and began the application process. 
As I eagerly awaited the news if I wound have this opportunity or not my excitement grew. This was the first year that I taught a STEM kit (Hands-on Standards) to my students and they loved it. It was so real-world that the student buy in was beyond evident and the integration of skills was great! I have never seen my students work so hard and serious on a task before. 
In June I received my second email from Washington Alliance for Better Schools (WABS) stating that I would be apart of the 2016 Externship Cohort. I had no clue as I embarked on this journey the world that I was about to enter. 
A major part of this externship was being paired with a local company as a way to understand the workforce environment and the problems that they face. This would help guide externs in writing our own problem based learning task for our students.
I was paired with The Boeing Company for eight days of full immersion. And to stay I left filled with knowledge doesn't even come close. The best way I can express the way I felt at the end of each day was, it was as if I had just had a Thanksgiving fest completely stuffed, satisfied, yet wanting more. 
By the end of the eight days I was over flowing with ideas on how The Boeing Company connects so closely to what we are doing in our classrooms. And of course all the opportunities as a sixth grade teacher who can now say when I teach certain skills or topics that these are the same skills that The Boeing Company employees use and value daily. Not to mention all the perks that their employees receive such as pay, benefits, and a on site message therapist! 
Education can be isolating, meaning we as educators get very wrapped up in our own world and rarely get the opportunity to see other career paths that many of our students will chose to be apart of. It was great to be apart of the corporate world to bring back career pathways to my students. Additionally learning the skills they see young employees lacking such as soft skills (interpersonal skills) and the ability to problem solve is a somewhat "messy" unstructured manner.  
Without a doubt this experience has and will continue to impact my teaching. I encourage educators to take advantage of these opportunities when they arise as they will not regret it.