What is your filter? a case for CUE as your Instant PLN.

I am sort of a newbie to the whole PLN thing, though I do admittingly have a twitter coach that will work for ed tech help,  I also have an access point to unlimited awesome that I want to celebrate during the closing hours of 2013

Prologue: How I got here

During college I took a job during the summers (2000) as a "Door-to-Door Salesman" selling books to help parents help kids with homework.  Here are the details I knew when I signed up.

Where?  Somewhere on the East Coast.
With whom?  Three other roommates TBD, maybe from your university (San Diego State), maybe not.
Where will we find a place to live?  You will have a day and a half to find a place, usually knocking on doors,  look for places with extra rooms/or a finished basement.
How much do I make?  Depends on how much you sell, maybe nothing, it's 100% commission.

It was a challenging and grit building summer and I stayed on for another two years (the final two I actually made some decent money and ended up the proud owner of a sweet 1982 cream colored Dodge Diplomat ($400.00 out the door...actually "off the front lawn").  What I didn't expect to gain was the relationship capital I built in those years.

I unknowingly stepped into a network full of people that would say "Yes" to the insanely vague/challenging conditions outlined above.  I lucked into that network more on ignorance/stupidity than my own bravery and confidence.  However I was fortunate enough to surround myself with people who taught me what it means to be confident, to have true grit, and embody the "Do-it-now-never-stop-attitude" that I carry (try to) with me to this day.

Before Twitter, Facebook, and social media, I walked into a pre-existing #Bad@$$ PLN that was waiting for me to say "yes".  The context of the company served as a filter that insured an "Awesome Members Only" experience...and it was.

What is your filter?:  A play in one act

Building a PLN is hard, like a garden, one has to nurture it before it will yield fruit.  It's probably the biggest reason we have so many educators still working in relative isolation every day.  For my first two years of teaching I did the same, grinding away at my job and doing a good job of it, but paying a cost that was unsustainable.  Though I didn't know it at the time, I needed a ready-built PLN to plug into, share ideas, and be invigorated, like the one I found myself in during college.

And now the "Self Serving" Part.

By chance/luck/divine intervention I happened upon our local CUE affiliate with the promise to move faster that my current district OS would allow.  Frustrated by constant road blocks to my ideas, I jumped at the chance to:

1.  Work really hard
2.  Work for free
3.  Work on things that matter to me
4.  Have a great time doing it.

4 years later I still work for CUE and am especially fulfilled by my recent efforts to connect with other affiliates more.   CUE affiliates up and down CA are full of people who think that items 1-3 ALWAYS lead to number 4.  Our commander and chief even brands himself as a maverick in what I believe is a reminder to the rest of CUE as to how we should be thinking!  The people that truly work to make their affiliates happen are ALL awesome, supportive, and innovative people that want to connect and share ideas.  I have made the final half of 2013 a personal mission to spread the gospel of CUE around the North Bay Area offering only the following promise:

"I can guarantee you get to take on a lot of extra work, while helping other educators, be paid nothing, and have a great time doing it!".

It turns out there are tons of people waiting for the chance to say "Yes" this experience:

Ali Deguia, Amy Fadeji, Tracy Walker, Catina Haugen, Ashley Williams, Jennie Snydar, Bob Raines, Emily Dunnegan, Jenny Derby, Sarah Fountain, Mark Picketts, James Fester, Eric Saibel, Katy Foster, Adam Welcome, Megan Cusimano, Mary Jane Burke, Raquel Rose, Michele Dawson, Mario Piombo, Rick Phalan, Dan Exelby, Jens Holstebro, the folks at FrontRow.etc.

CUE is a filter for awesome people all waiting for more to join.  So if this sounds like you, drop in on your areas next CUE event and chat up some organizers, we are all "yes" people, and love to grow the working body of CUE.

Or just follow @northbaycue and chat us up on twitter.

Prologue:  a Serious Note and Rock Star Camps were built with people like you in mind.

This post was born out of a reconnection with a work college that is a very close "though partner" of mine.  We started teaching at the same time, with similar values, at the same school,  yet somehow landed in opposite worlds. My department was experimenting and supporting, his department maintained the status quo.  While I spent 4 years endeavoring with grading and assessment for open mindset, he had all his assessments written for him by the district and had strict pacing calendars.  He taught the hardest populations on campus, I taught a beautiful heterogenous mix of students who were in APchem the year before with students who failed algebra I twice.

We went out for drinks the other night and I was saddened to learn that this teacher will be leaving the school and probably the district by choice, due to shear discontent, lack of local intellectual support and even criticism from his peers.  This is a great teacher, walking away from his school and its culture.  #PLNmatter, big time!

If any part of this post rings true in your ear please join the following instant communities of awesome that is CUE  Rock Star Teacher Camps.  CUE is offering a special edition camp in the beautiful Napa Valley on Feb 14th - 16th and if you love the idea of learning all day in small groups with people just like you, I will see you there!

Sun is Shining and the Weather is Sweet

Full Disclosure:  When I first got this tweet from Mark Lunque I was totally not into it.  I am not a fan of chain mail type things.  Probably has something to do with sending a few people $10 in the mail as a teenager with the expectation of receiving over a thousand dollars back over the course of the next few months...didn't happen and I ended up feeling like this.  Fortunately the positive power of twitter kept my interest and I realized this is something cool that should not be wasted.  Thanks Mark!

11 Random facts about myself

1)  I grew up in the Napa Valley (where I live now...fun!) and my father was a hot air balloon pilot. 

2)  I am 1/2 Mexican, 1/2 Italian, All awesome...though I speak WAY better Italian (I can get myself out of a jam in Spanish if I need to), I pride myself on being able to leverage the awesomeness that is embedded in each of those extremely divergent cultures (read: sarcasm...seriously Italians are just European Mexicans).  

3)  In college I was a door to door salesman and during the summers I worked in Louisville KY, Des Moines IA, and Johnstown PA.

4)  I knew what my son's name would be by my sophomore year in high school...which is random because most HS boys don't think about that kind of stuff.

5)  I love music and I sing all the time despite my lack of a good singing voice, which makes it hard for anyone within earshot.

6)  Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Mint n Chip.

7)  I am a Christian and love it...which I only added because when people find out I am christian they are like "Really?"...which either means I am pretty awesome at being a christian or pretty terrible.  #notsure

8)  I am a painfully insecure writer...I worry about people reading my ideas and thinking them to be lame.  Ironic if you have ever been in a meeting with me #italktoomuch

9)  I was fully grown by 7th grade (6'1'')...have you ever been around middle school boys, tiny.

10)  I have a huge crush on NPR and I would love to take it out for a nice white wine/seafood dinner maybe a after dinner cocktail, and then see what happens.

11)  I usually sometimes tell jokes just to laugh at them myself (see random fact number 10) even if I know I will be the only one laughing.  I also think a careful application of strikethroughs is one of the highest forms of internet wit.  Also nothing beats a good Dumb and Dumber hyperlink...see intro.

Questions from Mark

1. Are you the oldest, middle, or youngest child? 

Middle, and live up to the part.  #helper

2. On New Year's Eve, do you watch the ball drop or are you in bed by 10:00 pm?

 Not big on new years (which is weird because I am a huge fan of low stakes kissing/make-out sessions ;)...Still I watch it drop, despite the fact that I could easily spend my life going to sleep by 9:30.

3. What is your dream job?

NapaLearns EdTech Coordinator...I seriously giggle to myself every time I get my pay stub and it has nothing to do with the size of the numbers on the check and everything to do with the challenging, creative, and meaningful work it allows me access to...and they Pay me for it.

4. Who is your best friend and how did you meet?

I have been super close friends with the same 8 dudes since we were in middle school, we are still very close... They are all the hilarious/adventurous/sharingtheweird, loves of my life!

5. Have you ever met anyone famous? Desribe the encounter

I got to have dinner with Eric Mazur (my mancrush/eduhero) in September, which was fun because I had followed and tried to emulate his work for the previous two years.  The best part is that I totally crashed a cocktail session with him and some other people I 'sort of knew' and ended up joining them for a bad@$$ evening sharing ideas. #couragematters

6. What was the last book you finished reading?

2013 included:  'To Sell is Human', 'Drive', 'A whole New Mind', 'Outliers', 'What the Dog Saw', 'David and Goliath', 'Blink', 'Susan Cain: Quiet' (the actual answer), Kaines, Hayek', 'The Company', 'The Wizard: Tesla",  ''Mindset', 'Unbroken', '11-22-63', 'Good to Great', 1 John, 1 Corinthians

I'm not bragging...I have no time to "read" as I do it at a painfully slow pace.  I only generated this list to say that Audiobooks rule and if you hear yourself saying "wish I had more time to read, but I don't" please consider joining audible.com

7. You could have dinner with three people from your PLN, who do you invite?

No brainer...#TeamNorthBay (6 is more than 3 though I think of us as a collective "Hive Mind of Amazing") doing backyard style hangout at Adam Welcome's house.  We have been talking up this one for months and I am confident that it will happen some day...and it will be glorious.

8. Would you rather attend a sporting event or concert? If you selected a sporting event, who is playing and what venue is hosting. If you selected a concert, who is performing?

I have been to a crapload of both, and at it's peak, there is something beautiful about following a team all season long (Oakland A's Season Ticket Holders) and being there when those special moments happen.  Something to do with "being an invested part of something" that sports offer, and that concerts don't (as much).  That being said, if it were random free tickets:  Concert.

9. Android or Apple?

Frick...prob Android, though the camera on my nexus4 absolutely sucks!  Slow auto focus = lots of pictures like this

10. If you could spend one day doing whatever you want, how do you spend your day?

Golf with my 5 year old...don't care where, though our home course is surrounded by vineyards  which is pretty cool.  Preferably with one of our friends w kids that golf.  BTW I love the fact that I get to live my answer to this question 2 or 3 times a week!

11. Why did you choose to be an educator? Who has been your greatest influence?

I kind of fell into the job and my greatest influence was easily my X-wife, who is a bad@$$ educator herself and in my early years supported and taught me a lot.  Thanks Sarah!  I want to stay an educator because of how cool the job is, lots of opportunity to do meaningful work in creative ways.  

Bloggers:  Most of the peeps I follow are already on this so I will take this chance to learn some fun things about the #TUtechparty as wells a few peeps I want to start to work with more. 

 **Katy Foster**

Brady Mitchell

Bobby Ruth

Debra Carnes

Patty Wyman

Angelene Warnock

Kendall Shomura

Karin Hatton

Monica Ready

Johnathan Dunsworth
Brad Fisher



SHHS Physics...Start here

11 Questions for you all to answer (tweet me when you are done, I am stoked to see what you guys put down)

1)  Best moment of 2014?
2)  What is your favorite thing to spend money on?
3) Besides Christmas, favorite holiday...why?
4)  Outline your #bestdayever??
5) What did you learn over last summer?
6)  What was the last book you finished reading?
7)  Best gift you ever gave someone?
8)  Share something charming/weird about your family
9) What is your best personal gift/quality/strength?
10) What is one of  your weaknesses, things you need to overcome to be successful?
11)  If you could have dinner with any two people, who would it be...why?

Here is your Task

1. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
2. Answer the 11 questions created for you