National Junk Food Day: Top 8 Things I'm Thankful For

Better than Christmas dinner or eating out for my birthday, definitely better than Thanksgiving turkey and dressing, today is my fav food day. The greatest day ever, it's National Junk Food Day.
Stop. Seriously, I love me some junk food. So today, I celebrate. Hey, CNN said it, so it's true.

Since I'm over 40 and eating all of this would completely derail my getting into work clothes next week, I decided to create My Top 8 Junk Foods list!
In no certain order:

1. My daddy taught me to eat these. I treat myself to a couple a year. The Orange Cake went away when Hostess went away; I bought every one Target had, then left a shrine in place of the empty Hostess shelves. Delicious!

2. Funnel Cakes. If there's a festival, get outta my way. I'm coming in for the funnel cake, and I'm not sharing. I don't particularly care that white powder is in my eyelashes. I love funnel cakes.

3. Cheese fries. If you know me well, you know that for many years a plain baby cheeseburger and fries from McDonald's was a staple in my diet for most of my 30's. Now, I'm old and I refrain, most of the time. I could actually eat my weight in french fries. So, this junk food treat is CHEESEFRIES WITH BACON! #snuffers #outback

4. Who knew that anyone could roll up the yummiest of greatness in a small ball and dip it in freaking chocolate and make something that I literally look between the seats of my car for change to buy? Thank God the local baker doesn't accept AmEx!

5. You call them gummy worms; I call them hummy gummies. I don't know why. It makes me happy. These little boogers make me happy too.


6.  Candy corn. These are a bit seasonal and I am prejudice to the original Halloween colored candy corns. Great thing about these is they are fat free. Really. No lie. FAT FREE! I carry them in my pockets; no one even knows. (Then I'd have to share.) Years ago, my students picked up on my love for candy corn, and it never fails, when October rolls around, someone will leave a bag in my box. This yearly treat never fails to make me smile!

7. There was a battle for this one. I struggled between the Zebra Cake and the Ding Dong. I had to go old school. My mom used to put these in my lunchbox in elementary school. These aren't quite the same as they used to be when they were wrapped delicately in foil, but a good, fresh Ding Dong, thanks Hostess, definitely makes my list.

8.  Finally, needing no introduction, Krispie freaking Kream donuts. I swear: I will wreck my car and take out pedestrians to slide into this drive thru when the HOT light is on. It's like Satan holding a flashing beacon calling my name, "Eat me."

So, whatever you enjoy, indulge yourself. Today is the day. Tomorrow, you can work it off. But today, enjoy.

Peer Pressure, Professional Learning & the Principalship: They Got Me On Periscope!

I did it. It was peer pressure - even though deep down I really probably wanted to try it.  I wouldn't have. But, peer pressure got me.
Periscope.
That darn TPT conference and social media combined to rock my world.
See, I'm not a teacher, and TPT, well, I love to look at it, but it really hasn't completely embraced us administrators. My role seems to be more of a cheerleader for the amazing teachers with whom I work. They post and share; they blog and Instagram. They build and tweet. They have an entire professional learning community that I'm kinda left out of.    

When I taught, back in the day, I attended the conferences I was asked to attend; I presented the presentations I was asked to present. I remember being so jealous when our school counselor was talking about a True Colors Workshop she was going to attend. I was absolutely green. Apparently, it was obvious. Someone got sick and couldn't go the day of the conference, and suddenly, I was there! I'd have run over someone with my car to go. I was giddy.
Professional learning early in my career involved doing exactly as I was asked - anything more was done under the radar. You could never survive if you looked or acted like you wanted to be better or do more.
But, I'll admit it: I read a lot along the way. I ask tons of questions. And, fortunately, I married a co-worker - which meant I could bounce ideas and brainstorm in bed! (Maybe that should be another blog!) In all, I think I was pretty innovative for the 90's.
Fast forward. I have teachers at every grade level making money on TPT. I have bloggers and tweeters. I have presenters and curriculum writers. I don't HAVE to push them. They push me! Heck, I'm just trying to keep up with them!
I think I could keep up, but there are just so many of them. They're moving in so many directions. Then, Periscope. Darn TPT conference. Darn social media. In 24 hours, I had one texting me that it was the greatest thing ever and another sending me tutorials.Then, the #periscopeteacherchallenge came.
So, I did it. It was awful. (Well, don't tell but my first Periscope was actually just trying to figure out the logistics so it was actually about 2 minutes of our new kitten chasing a fishing lure. I earned some hearts and actually had 10 visitors!) Then, I actually completed the #periscopeteacherchallenge, thanks to one of my teachers, and it was pretty awful. Actually, it was terrible. I forgot to give it a title. Only 3 people joined me. It was bad. I deleted it. But, I did it.
I knew I had to do another one; my competitive nature kicked in. So, I had an epiphany as I was leaving work a couple of days ago. The sun was bright, and I immediately thought how thankful I was for my sunglasses. Then, I thought about how thankful I am for my real glasses. I know: I'm a dork. So, I was in the thankful thought process and from there, I thought about how thankful I am to have a wonderful custodian. She had just stopped in to say hello and see if I needed anything. She's truly invested in the school. Bam! That was my Periscope - 3 things for which I am thankful.

Every few months a different site will reuse this.
It's crazy seeing your daughter when you scroll
through your news feed.

Yes, even my mom has made her social media debut!

I have really been working on being thankful and showing gratitude more, so that's what I talked about in my Periscope. Long story short, I got totally nervous and talked about gratitude and graciousness synonymously with thankfulness. I came across as a complete moron. Nice.
So, 2 official Periscopes and 2 official epic fails.

I'll do it again. I think. Secretly, I'd love to taunt my daughters - one who has over 2 million loops on Vine Riley's Vine and the other who had a tweet go viral. I would love to taunt them with better ratios. :)
Staying ahead of two teenagers is hard enough. Now, I have an entire staff to try to stay ahead of.
I realized years ago with Instagram that I can't stay ahead of my girls, not possible. I have to trust that they've learned right and wrong, and they will do what is right.
Periscope taught me the same thing. I can't stay ahead of my teachers. It's impossible. I can only support them and encourage them to take risks and learn new things. The best I can do is maintain my own professional learning, watch for trends in data throughout grade levels and the school, and share! I can build relationships and listen. I can be available and provide support.
After 14 years in the same school, I am blessed my role as a principal continues to evolve and develop. I am not only thankful for a staff that is willing to think outside of the box and take risks, but I am also thankful for one that challenges me to continue to grow!
For now, I'll just listen for that Periscope alert! Maybe I'll see you there!