Software

This week I stepped out on a limb and tried something new -- outside of my comfort zone. I find that I am doing that more and more lately. It's easy to do what you have always done and are comfortable with, but difficult and sometimes frustrating to take a leap with something unknown.

That's true for most everything -- including a faith journey with God. It's easy to keep doing the same ol', same ol' -- walking through life in our comfortable patterns and routines. It takes courage to trust and have faith in God. Just changing my routine by adding a devotion or more prayer time can put me in the frame of mind that with Him I can do anything.

So, stepping into the foreign software world this week I created my first Classroom Newsletter. I utilized Microsoft Publisher and chose a template that I thought looked appealing and easy to work with. I changed fonts, added pictures, inserted text boxes, changed headings and subtitles and created a masterpiece. I learned that Publisher really isn't that much different from Word, just more areas to tweak and play with. I have had several parents send in notes this week stating that they loved it! The students enjoyed seeing themselves in the pictures.

What meant the most to me though, was the reaction from our Art teacher. Mrs. L worked tirelessly to tie-dye t-shirts in a different color for each grade level so that we could use them in our Reading Rallies at the end of each month. I took a picture of all three third grade classes sitting in the gymnasium during our first reading rally wearing our new shirts and included that in the newsletter. Mrs. L was truly touched to have such a public recognition of appreciation. She sent me a very nice email thanking me for including her in our publication.

The newsletter was frustrating, it was time consuming, but worth it in so many ways. I learned the importance of recognizing things we do in the classroom and sharing with parents. It is both valuable and worth my efforts... every time. I honestly feel that if I just play with it some more, I will learn to love it! The more time you invest in anything, the better you become and the easier it becomes. That's true for friendships, relationships, and hobbies as well. The more time you invest in God, the deeper your relationship becomes and the more you learn to trust in Him.

I am fairly comfortable with the software I use at school. I regularly use Word and Excel. I have played around with Power Point and Prezi enough that I can accomplish my goals. I would like to get better with Excel. I saw some great projects this week where other students had inserted student data and had Excel create graphs showing student growth. I did not know you could do that with Excel. I would like to set a goal with my self that every semester I focus on one software program and complete a project in that program. (I'm going to count this semester as done! I have completed both a Prezi and a Publisher this month alone.) The reward for my hard work will be the knowledge and experience I gain in doing so -- but I think after all that, I will have earned a trip to Starbucks too!