STEM education for the win!

I just received some very exciting news! My employer EMC recently awarded several community service awards. I applied for one for my daughter's school, Philbrick Elementary in Roslindale, a neighborhood of Boston. They routinely face budget cuts and do not have a technology budget. So I was thrilled to hear that EMC has made a generous grant of $5,000 to support technology at the school! This will enable technical support for the teachers and staff, enabling the teachers to focus on learning rather than troubleshooting technology problems.

In addition, this grant will allow the Philbrick to purchase additional hardware to support parallel instruction in technology. Currently, the teachers do not have access to equipment if the laptops and iPads are being used in another classroom.

This grant will greatly enhance technical learning at the Philbrick. The staff, students, and parents at the Philbrick would like to thank EMC for this generous gift that will have a lasting impact for our students.

 

Facilitating the hour of code at the Philbrick last year

I'll be donating 2 volunteer days next week to teach the Hour of Code to the entire school. Come back on the 18th for a new blog post on that topic!

Feeling terrible? Awesome? Just wait a minute ...

I've been reading and thinking a lot about mindfulness and Buddhist teachings lately. I think the cold, snowy winter brings out my retrospective side. The short days and lack of sunlight put me into a funk that even my happy light is challenged to disrupt. Here I sit, bracing for yet another snowstorm to disrupt my schedule.

That's my car in the middle, under all the snow

Soul searching, while uncomfortable at times, helps me to further internalize transformative messages. Like the idea that pain is inevitable, but so is joy. It takes a certain amount of discomfort to achieve a breakthrough like this. It's one thing to hear a message, and think that you get it. I love to pretend that I know it all, when reality suggests that I'm learning more about how to be my true self each day. It's quite routine that just when I think I have something all figured out, that same lesson comes back to hit me over the head a few more times until I think I might break.

So, here I sit with my quiet discomfort. Realizing that just around the corner from a painful transition will be rays of sunshine and warmth. The joy is just as transient, so I intend to enjoy every moment.

Sunset at Ft. Myers Beach

Reflections

It's the final day of National Blog Posting month, or #NaBloPoMo as it's often called on Twitter or Facebook. I am glad I gave it a try. Thanks to the exercise of writing regularly, I think that my ideas generated other ideas. I also felt a bit freer than usual to write a post about a small moment or idea than I have previously. My idea of what was worthy of a blog post certainly changed.

It was a worthwhile experiment that I hope has made me a better blogger and writer. It was also less stressful than I feared, since I had several drafts and scheduled posts to help me through busy work weeks. For any current or want-to-be bloggers out there, I think a month of writing daily is worth trying.

I definitely plan to post more frequently, though I don't think it will be anywhere near the frequency of November. I am even more in awe of local daily blogger Casey of Life With Roozle, who inspired me to give NaBloPoMo on a whim after reading her tips. Casey has blogged daily for 2 years!

As I reflect on my blogging experience this past month, please enjoy this reflection I captured on our holiday weekend trip to New Hampshire.

The first snowfall is so beautiful. There's no snow in Boston yet, but it will be here soon enough.

Cast off the friction!

I recently went out for a walk in an area of Boston that I don't visit very often, the North End. I enjoyed an amazing Italian-inspired lunch, a nice glass of wine, read my book club book, and generally relaxed. The only bummer was that, on the way to the restaurant, I started to feel an unpleasant sensation on the inside of my heel. Despite wearing some casual, sneaker-like shoes that I thought would be comfortable, they were starting to really rub my feet the wrong way. Fortunately, I had driven my car to the area, and I had a spare pair of sneakers in the trunk. After lunch, I slowly made my way back to my car, opened the trunk, and changed into new socks and comfortable sneakers.

Instantly, I felt relieved. The pain was gone! Unfortunately, I had a nickel size blister on the inside of my left foot. My other foot in the same spot was worn pretty red, but did not blister.

Walking to my next destination, I felt as light as air. The friction had been removed! It made me feel as if this blister can be seen as a metaphor. Are there areas of your life where some unneeded friction is getting in your way and interfering with your life? Like the princess and the pea, is there a small obstacle you can remove to make things go more smoothly? Think about if there's a simple step that you can take to address this impediment. Although that may be a difficult, or unpleasant situation to resolve, keep the end game in your mind. Too, too, will feel as light as air, and walk as if you could run for miles, once this problem is out of the way.