My Moment - Day 45 - "Swing By"

As I mentioned in my blog, my #oneword is a call to action for me to be mindful of the moments that make up my day. The moments at home, the moments at work and the moments that happen in between.

I am excited to resume my #moment reflections following what was a restful spring break. 

As I return from spring break, testing season rears its ugly head and the number of brief meetings I am scheduled to be in seems to partner with it. Those brief meetings started promptly at 8AM this morning, my first day back from spring break. As the meetings continued throughout the day and take up space on my calendar for the days and weeks ahead, my time in classrooms seems to be harder to come by. 

(Typing that previous line, reading it and allowing the readers of this blog to see it, serves as a reminder to me that the time I do have, needs to be spent wisely. It needs to be spent in the classrooms. It needs to be spent connecting, learning and sharing with our students and teachers.)

As today was coming to a close, I received a text message from a teacher. 

"Cool budget activity, swing by if free..." 

I typically see text messages, tweets and other notifications on my phone instantly as my phone seems to embed itself into my hand throughout the day, but today I had sat my phone down to make some phone calls at my desk and at the conclusion of my calls, I saw the text. I made my way down to the classroom, but had missed the activity. Upon walking into the room, students were putting the finishing touches on their budget, determining how much money they had left after paying their bills. It was an awesome real-life application of income and spending. The students were excited to experience what it was like to be an adult, make money, pay bills and have to pay for "nice" things. 

The point of me sharing this was that even with the best of intentions, I get busy, I get distracted and I need these reminders or open invitations from my teachers to "swing by". The teachers appreciate seeing me in their rooms and the students do too. The text I received at the end of the day from the same teacher is an awesome reminder of why I need to "swing by" when I can. 

"Thanks for stopping by, students like when you come to class." 

While that instantly made me feel like I am not in classrooms enough, it reminded me how powerful it is when I am. 

If you are an administrator reading this, do not forget to "swing by" and connect with the students and teachers who are working their hearts out in your classrooms and hallways...daily! 

If you are a teacher reading this, do not forget to invite your administrator to "swing by". I want to. I get distracted, pulled in different directions and sometimes get bogged down on items that keep me away from the classrooms I want to be in. 

No excuses. 

To the teacher who sent the text...

"Thanks for inviting me to "swing by" and reminding me about the importance of surrounding myself with our students and teachers each day."

What was your moment today?