A roller coaster ride

The first time I rode a real roller coaster I was eighteen.  I went to Six Flags over Georgia in Atlanta for our senior trip.  I imagine there were other groups of seniors that went more exotic places, but for me it was Six Flags over Georgia.  For those that don't know, I went to high school in Alabama and Atlanta is only about four hours from my hometown at the time.  I was a total chicken in high school.  Not that I'm any sort of adventure seeker now, but believe it or not I'm better than I was!  I remember checking the safety bar multiple times to make sure I wasn't going to fly out of that little car.  I remember keeping my eyes wide open, no way was I going through that thing blind!  I don't remember screaming, I imagine I reserved my air for the laborious breathing, some would call it hyperventilating, I was doing.  

What I learned about roller coasters is they really aren't so bad.  I didn't mind flying around a curve upside down, the car went too fast for me to even realize I was upside down.  After riding multiple roller coasters, I've discovered I like cars that hang (where the track is above you) as opposed to cars on the track, because they are smoother, and I felt safer.  I haven't been to a theme park in years, so it's been a while since I've felt those stomach dropping, dizzying moments of being out of control.  Although I'm pretty sure some of my experiences this last week could rival the Batman Roller Coaster from the summer of 1997.

This last week I began my first week of presentations in my region.  I had three very different experiences at three very different schools.  I was welcomed with open arms, held at arms length until the staff decided I wasn't too bad and was shown the door, figuratively speaking, by select faculty members at one school.  I knew when I took this job, that I would encounter teachers and schools with varying levels of reception, so I wasn't surprised necessarily by my week.  Certainly though, the emotional roller coaster was challenging.

I'm gearing up tonight, to start that journey again tomorrow.  Over the next four days I have six presentations of varying topics.  While the primary subject will be Common Core, the angle that each presentation takes varies depending on the needs of the school.  In some places we're just presenting an overview, in other places I've been challenged by the administration to present Bloom's Taxonomy.  Since my primary goal as a presenter is to be engaging and relevant, my skills will be seriously put to the test as I make a fifty year old learning theory interesting and applicable to current legislative initiatives.  In case you're curious, I'll be presenting this information three times in three places, you're welcome to come listen.  :)

My other major task this week was to establish a website.  My partner and I share several web resources during the course of our presentations.  Rather than providing teachers with a lengthy list of web addresses that likely will not get used, I created a webpage where all of those links are in one place.  Attached to that is the blog that I started for my teachers.  Both are works in progress, but I hope you'll visit both places and provide feedback for me as I work to make them better.

I've already started clicking up the track and at 7:00 tomorrow morning I'll take that first huge drop into a new week.  I'm still finding my feet in my new position, and I'm still not the most adventurous, but the way things are working out so far I'm going to be a regular passenger on figurative roller coasters!