I wrote 152 blog posts to reflect and grow and share and love.

I started blogging on December 5, 2015 right after getting home from my annual state conference. And, here I sit, 152 blog posts later. One published book later. Um, wow.

My writing is really about personal development. I write to reflect and grow and share and love. I write for me and I write for you. I have written deeply personal posts, I have written many posts about the brilliant educators I work with every day, I have written poems (including an amazing rewrite of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas called ‘Twas Technology Class that you MUST check out), and I have grown by leaps and bounds since pressing that first publish button.

I truly believe that in order to grow professionally, we need to be our best selves. If we get to know our own strengths, weaknesses and what motivates our own behavior, we develop an understanding of how to be our best selves. And, through that understanding, we become more empathetic and supportive of the people around us.

I truly believe that we all deserve to love ourselves. This is the one I have the most trouble with. I don’t always love myself and I deserve better. We must first wrap our own loving arms around ourselves (pause here for self-hug) before we can truly give to others. It’s just the way it is. So, I write about understanding and loving ourselves.

I truly believe that we are on this precious earth to wrap loving arms around each other. If all we do is love, love, love all day long, not a minute of the day is wasted. One of my deep passions as a school leader is being a champion for our teachers so they can, in turn, be champions for our students. I love writing about understanding and loving each other.

One more thing. I believe that we take this life and ourselves WAAAYYY too seriously. Me included. So, I write silly things and try to have fun with my readers. And I do things like this:

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I call my blog “Serendipity in Education” and my book is called The Path to Serendipity because serendipity is a beautiful way to live. If you know me at all, you know that I love the idea of serendipity, and that I take a little liberty with the definition. To me, it is expecting to stumble upon good in every situation we encounter. Even when we face major hurdles and gut-wrenching challenges, if we expect that good will come out of the bad and if we know we will be better people for having gone through it, life can be precious and beautiful almost all of the time.

Here are five of my most popular blog posts of ALL TIME (well, at least since December 5, 2015):

Number 5: What Might Make a Teacher Feel Unsafe at School?

Number 4: Three Staff Members and a Bee: Perception is Reality

Number 3: True confessions from a principal who STRUGGLES with the last month of the school year.

Number 2: Collaboration is not created by the arrangement of desks.

Number 1: 3 Simple Steps to Give Students What They Need

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey of growth, reflection and love. I learn so much from all of you. Here’s to 152 more posts!