Sunday, September 1, 2013

"I Am a Champion and You're Gonna Hear Me Roar"

Been wanting to blog about this for a little over a week now, and the inspiration just hit me today so here goes.

image courtesy of mathieujang.com


One of my best friends, and someone I consider my brother, Brad Waid (@TechBradWaid) recently wrote a blog post called "Tired or Inspired" where he went through and listed people that inspired him as an educator.  What that post did for me was remind me of what keeps us teachers going.  Inspiration.  Inspiration from our students and yes, even inspiration from other educators.

The past few weeks for me have been an incredibly trying time.  From losing a close family friend at the too soon age of 19 to dealing with things at every turn that have made me feel insignificant, undervalued, ignorant, and sometimes not even treated like I knew how to do my job.  So many factors have been really heavy on my heart lately and honestly I've been really down in the dumps dealing with a plethora of emotions that threatened to almost derail my first week with my students.

Even this holiday weekend all I could think about were those many negative things.  Those things that were stealing away my joy, creativity, and passion.  Then today I had a chance to chat with Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers) on the phone.  And when I called her, the first thing she asked me was "What amazing things have you been doing.  Share with me your genius".  Wow.  What a powerful statement.  It hit me like a ton of bricks.

Too often as teachers we feel like braggarts when we talk about the things we're doing in our classrooms or things we're doing to change the world.  But guess what WE are doing great things!!!  And we are being extremely SELFISH when we don't share those great things with others.  And I sat there and shared with Angela things I was doing, and when I did she got excited, really excited.  And it reminded me of when I read Brad's post on his website.

I personally LOVE hearing the amazing things people in education are doing.  It gets me fired up and it reminds me of why I love being in education.  When I get that phone call from a friend to share with me a new opportunity they've gotten or something new their trying in their classroom I get soooooo excited for them.  I want to know more, it fuels me.  I need that.  I need to hear about the greatness others are doing because it continually pushes me on to be better.

So I could sit and complain about how the past two weeks when I was told I couldn't do something, or I wasn't creative enough, or I wasn't important.  Or I could sit here and celebrate the amazing things that not only I'm doing, but that all of us are doing!

The title for this blog post comes from a Katy Perry song called "Roar" which is quite the uplifting song, and I love the lyric that says "I've got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire.  Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me Roar".  And I thought of the texts this week I got from one of my best friends, Drew Minock, sharing with me his awesomeness or yet another amazing idea he had (he has soooo many good ideas).  Or phone calls from Brad Waid to talk ideas or just to remind me of why I do what I do and of my value.  Or those talks in the hall from Stacey Huffine that told me to just keep going.  Or those group texts from Jake, Wendy, and Martha or Andrea who reminded me that what I was doing WAS important.  Or those tweets from Marlon, Evan, or Scott to check in on me.  Wow.  My PLN is more than I ever imagined.

So thank you to my amazing friends and PLN who have comforted me, trusted me, built me up, and even more so who have inspired me along every step of the way of becoming the best teacher I could be.  People who inspire me like Brad Waid, Stacey Huffine, Chris Kesler, Erin Klein, Jimmy Casas, Angela Maiers, Andrea Keller, Wendy Sanders, Jake Duncan, Martha Lackey, Marlon Ng, Evan Scherr, Scott Floyd, Matt Gomez and Drew Minock and sooooo many others.  And I can't wait to go into more detail soon in another post about these people and even more people who inspire me.

So let us stand together.  Let us celebrate one another.  Let us share stories about the awards, the joys, the successes, the light bulb moments.  Let us not be afraid to talk about the amazing things that each one of us are doing in our classrooms.  Because when you share your story, when you share your most recent award, when you share your success, it helps me.  It makes me want to be better.  It makes me want to be like you.  So please, keep inspiring me and feel free to share below in the comments the amazing things you're doing!  I want to know!  Thank you and #youmatter.


23 comments:

  1. Todd, what an awesome post. I want to share just how much having you and others just like you in my PLN has made me grow not just as an educator, but as a human being. Please keep doing what you are doing. #YouMatter also.

    Evan
    @scherrology

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    1. Thanks Evan!! That really means a lot. So thankful to have you as part of my PLN!

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  2. Dear Techninjatodd I can't even describe how thankful I am that you are my friend! You continually inspire me in all that you do with students and adults! You rock my friend :)

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  3. Thanks for sharing You are such an inspiration to so many, please don't let anyone steal your joy, creativity, and passion. Never underestimate the power of your tweets, job, and trainings. Many a silent observer have been inspired by what you do! Keep it up!

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    1. Thank you so much for the kind words Jo Anna! It's always weirdly exciting to hear that I am inspiring others!

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  4. Great post. It seems that the tone of teaching conversations tends to slant to the negative side. I appreciate your analysis and encourgagement to your PLN and readers. We all need it!

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  5. Great post! Exactly how I feel. Where was Twitter when I was a new teacher? Its so great to be connected! I can have instant inspiration, I dont have to wait for a PD event. Thanks again!

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    1. I agree! I would have LOVED having something like twitter when I was first starting! So many amazing people to learn from!

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  6. Amazing post Todd! You are doing amazing things and changing the lives of the students in your classroom! Honored to be part of it!

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    1. Dude, you inspire me every single day. My PLN is better because you are in it!

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  7. Thanks for the reminder of all we do that is awesome. We are our worst critics, aren't we? Have a great year!

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    1. We are our worst critics!! But yes, we do all do awesome things! You have a great year too Brenda!

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  8. Wonderful...thank you so much!!
    with love,
    Laurie
    www.heartsforteaching.com

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  9. Your post reminds us of the value of forming global connections and moving outside our own building and sphere of direct work colleagues to connect with the people who inspire us beyond the walls of our classroom, school, and community. Keep inspiring. Great post. I will be sharing your blog with teachers as I inspire them to be bloggers themselves and global learners, mostly connecting their own students with other students globally.

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    1. Exactly!! We teach our students to connect globally, and so should we! Moving outside of my comfort zone and my building has expanded my thinking beyond belief! Thanks Judy!

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  10. Wow it gave me chills as I read your posts!!! How can you even imagine such a crazy thing like that you not feeling like you have a purpose. Well let me tell you that YOU my friend are the reason I do what I do in my classroom. YOU my friend are the reason I have the energy I have. YOU my friend are the reason I didn't want to lose sight of you at ISTE 13 this year and be glued to your hip! YOU my friend are the reason I have no desks and no chairs in my classroom this year (now that's a challenge and need to read my blog). YOU my friend are the reason I take the risks that I do because you have taken those risks with your students. YOU my friend are the reason I am passionate about TEACHING LIKE A PIRATE AND HAVE MY TSHIRT). YOU my friend are the reason I blog about my frustrations and my successes each week. So don't you even think you are not making a difference to students or educators. YOU my friend have inspired me to ROAR like a tiger and so much more. I couldn't imagine not having you in my PLN and now consider you a life long friend! Are you kidding me???? Have I told you how much I respect and admire your passion for teaching? Well guess what, YOU my friend matter to me in more ways than you will ever imagine!!! I miss you dearly and I know YOU will do great things. Edcamp Plano is right around the corner! See you soon I hope

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  11. There isn't enough time in the day for negativity. Celebrate the successes along the way and work to create more of them in the future. Continue to be awesome!

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  12. A wise pirate, Dave Burgess, once said, "Don't hang around negative people; they will sap your super powers as sure as kryptonite." Hang in there! Your sphere of influence is much greater than you realize. I began following you on Twitter this summer and have learned so much from you, your EduAllstars podcasts and from you at EdCamp Fort Worth. What I learned from you about Aurasma has helped me to lead my students in a project that is wildly successful so far. I have been singing your praises to my fellow teachers. I just finished my first blog post tonight, and you and Rafranz Davis were my inspiration to begin this blogging journey. I am thankful to have you as a part of my PLN.

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  13. I have no idea how I found your post, as I found it about 10 hours ago and only had the time to read the first few sentences then, but your window was still open on my computer when I returned to it this evening. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that this post hit me exactly where, when and how it needed to. I have no idea who you are, but you have inspired me. Thank you so much, and best wishes for a strong, creative and fulfilling year ahead.

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  14. Whoa! I heard that ROAR! You are an inspiration to many many people! You are dynamite. I love the song, I love your post and I love what you are doing for education! That little valley you found yourself in....well all pirates face rough waters, but their crew work to keep the ship sailing! So sail on my pirate friend!

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