From Marlene.......

Hello. I hope everyone is having a good week. Although this has been a great experience and we are learning so much, I think we can all three agree that we are ready to be home. Shane has added to the blog today, so I am going to try hard not to repeat what he or Shannon have already shared.

One of the principles of this theory is “Ask, Don’t Tell.” The first question we need to ask ourselves is “Who do I want to be?” The answer to that question should help drive us to do what we need to do to be the person/teacher/etc. that we want to be. For example, when Shannon wouldn’t get out of bed this morning, I had to ask, “What kind of person do you want to be?” I won’t share her answer with you, but you need to know she did get up and made it to the conference ON TIME!!!! (J/K)

Seriously, what kind of person do we want to be? By self-evaluating, we make our decisions by discipline within. I know we keep saying this, but it all starts with us. Before we can look at changing anything within our climate/students/family, we have to be willing to look at what we are doing and what we can control. We “bump it up” when we no longer look at other factors, such as others’ behaviors, as obstacles in achieving what we want. We do what we do because of the kind of person we want to be.....ultimately. Many times I am guilty of starting out on this level of principle; then I start in with the, "but if he would only....." or "if they could only.....". I can only control myself. What kind of teacher do I want to be? What would that look like? How do I make it happen?

Point of Reference is part of the vocabulary that you will hear us refer to quite often. Your reference is what you know (reading strategy-connection) from your experiences, family, culture, etc. We all have difference points of reference. We'll talk later about how to connect these points of reference.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Friday!