Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has always been someone I looked up to. As a matter of fact, most black people looked up to him. Quite sure this is common knowledge. Today I saw a post that read, 5 Things You May Not Have Known About MLK. The post gave these facts that most people already know. While reading the post, all I thought about was that one obscure fact that usually isn't shared about MLK. Martin Luther King Jr., the preacher, spent countless hours in dive bars. Why? King would visit bars to give updates to patrons on the civil rights movement. MLK would also take the time to listen to the patrons of the bars. He would find out about issues going on in their communities. As I fast-forward to today, I thought about a meeting that I attendant recently where a school leader exclaimed, "I think I may need to go to some of these clubs in order to get some parent interested in these SAC and PTA meetings." As those words rolled out of the leaders mouth, all I thought about was the actions of Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King valued communicating with some of the most under-served African Americans in this country. We as school leaders must do the same. A true leaders goes high and low to build relationships with the people that he or she serves. We must meet the people that we serve where they feel most comfortabe to get a true understanding of them and their children.
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In 2009, I got a call from my oldest son who was at a wrestling tournament. There was inclement weather so he advised me that I could watch his matches online instead of braving the elements. I clicked on the link to watch the matches and was amazed that I could watch each match online in real time. As I watched his matches, I asked myself if this type of streaming technology was being used at his school.I immediately began to research and found out that his high school was not using streaming technology.The next week, I got approval from the school's athletic director to create a website to showcase the athletic activities at my son's school. The site became my passion. In three short years, the website had over 1 million views and was ranked #62 in the country for high school sports sites. Two years into my project, I was contacted by a company called Amateur Sports Network to create videos, add writing content, and to take pictures for Online high school sports throughout the nation. This took me on an adventure to North and South Dakota State Universities to the Amateur Wrestling National Championships to stream the event Online for the Asics/Vaughn Missouri State Wrestling team. Asics/Vaughn was so impressed with our work that they decided to have our team video the championship matches for instant replays on calls. I began to spend more time creating videos, taking pictures and building websites for amateur sports and for schools in general across the country. I taught myself how to build and brand these entities to increase the number of website visits. At the time, I was working as a Teacher Assistant in a suburban school district. I loved teaching and learning but also enjoyed technology. That is when I decided to make my passion my profession by smashing my love for education and technology together. I returned to the University of Central Missouri and received a Master's degree in Educational Technology. Once the degree was completed, I worked as an Instructional Technology Specialist at a charter school in Kansas City, Missouri. Currently, I train over 2,000 employees how to use educational software within a school district of 15,000 students. Routinely, I walk in with a smile on my face. I am so happy to do what I love daily. It is almost a crime to call my career work. Every day I have the ability to change the way digital immigrants and natives integrate software into their classrooms and boardrooms. My passion has become my profession. If you currently are working in a position that only fulfills paying your bills, don't give up. Keep striving to do what you love. Find ways to add your passion into what you do currently. Take some of your free time to explore new careers. Design your thinking to find that profession that excites you and if you don't find that career that you are passionate about, create your own. As soon as I jump in the G-Ride, the first thing I do is choose one of my iconic music playlist. This has been a tradition of mine since I created cassette tapes with my favorite cuts in the eighties. I Love Music. I can spend an entire day listening to the most eclectic mix from Big Sean to Little Big Town. As an adult, I have also discovered a super colossal Love of Books, whereas in my formative years, I avoided reading like the plague. I would skim classical works just so I could seem "semi-intelligent". Also I would buy Cliff Notes of books I had to read for class. It took marriage, 4 sons, and The Coldest Winter Ever to make me thirsty for reading. In order to read as much as I can with the time I have left on this earth, I thought I would try an audiobook. I started with Michele Obama's Becoming. To hear Michelle go through the details of her life in her own voice took my love for audiobooks to the next level. Now I listen to audiobooks in my car as much as I listen to music. Sometimes, I find myself listening so intently that when I arrive at my destination, I stay in my car until the chapter is finished. Now my love of books is equivalent to my love of music. My Friday nights are filled with Layer Cake Shiraz and non-fiction novels and I Love It! However, I wish I would have spent more time reading in my early years. There are so many great works out there that I have missed. Life is Short. Read a Book or Listen to Audiobook. Approximately a year ago, I applied for a new position and earned it. I was estatic as it fell completely into what I had been working towards for the last few years. I was also very excited because I was now a part of a team of instructional technology gurus who I could create and collaborate with. Our personalities and skillsets varied like ice cream flavors, however, just like rocky road, we seem to work very well with one another. As the school year progressed, I began to have doubts. Doubts about my abilitites within my position. I had many sleepless nights because I didn't think that I was good enough. I was drowning in my work. I could not organize my calendar or my thoughts. I guess we all have times like this (or it could be just me) but I was my own worst enemy. When my coworkers would ask me questions about things within my realm, I would not have an answer for them or at least one that made sense. My coworkers would have intelligent conversations on ways to help teachers or staff on various tools and I would freeze up. I also began to feel that my coworkers were starting to also lose faith in my abilitites by some of our conversations. As winter blahs set in deep February, I woke up on a Saturday morning to my cup of java and stream of Twitter. There was a post by Dr. Tamekia McCauley (@DrTamekia) beaming about the Amplify Educators of Color Conference that she was about to attend. I immediately replied to her post asking her who the keynote would be. She immediated responded with Chris Emdin (@ChrisEmdin). I jumped up and jumped out the door knowing that this was a sold out event. Determined to get in, I walked inside and immediately saw the sponsor of the event and she allowed me in. The day was the soup for the soul that I needed. I went to many enlightening sessions on technoogy, race, pedagogy, and was inspired to my core. To top it all off, the closing session with Chris Emdin uplifted me. Dr. Emdin spoke "ratchedly eloquent" as he spit bars of pedagogical love to the entire room. What touched me the most about Dr. Edmins speech was his converation on preparing himself for his speaking engagements. Speaking positive thoughts to himself. Positive affirmations to get him motivated to do the work. Those words to me were like a tetanus shot to someone who has been bitten. I needed to hear this speech and it was right on time. March is here, the ground has thawed and basketball brackets are being busted daily. As the seasons changed, so did my outlook. I decided to take a weeks vacation to focus. I spent countless hours investing in myself. I built two websites; one for blogging and one for my brand. I researched tools and became an expert at them. I worked for myself and it felt good. I lost my way, however, I am so happy that I can be transparent with myself and others about it. I am looking forward to finishing this school year strong, preparing for the next school year, and beyond. |
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April 2022
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