When I lost a scholarship in college, one of the things the college made me do was go to an on-campus therapist. I thought it was stupid and a waste of time, but I knew I was wrong within one visit. I continued to go to weekly sessions for the rest of the year. Since then, I've gone to therapy on and off at various times in my life. Whether it was learning how to work through racism in the workplace or addressing ways to live with an ADA diagnosis, therapy has helped me live a better life.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, but mental health matters every day. 

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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Veterans Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255 press 1

The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

One year later

Never forget all those who have lost their lives to police brutality. Carry their memories forward as we continue to fight for a better tomorrow. Police accountability is not the enemy. If accountability was so problematic, then why is it something we hope to instill in students?

I hope our county's Senators can work across the aisle and move legislation forward.

All lives do not matter until #BlackLivesMatter.

The Hat Trick

Hat tricks are great. At sporting events, they usually come with a unique animation and song to hype up the crowd and keep the momentum going.

But today, I'm excited to announce I have not achieved a hat trick.

EdTech Magazine included me on their EdTech's 30 Must-Follow K–12 Education IT Influencers list for 2019. (Click this text to read my thoughts on that recognition.) Then in 2020, I was included on the Influencer list for a second time. On May 10th, 2021, EdTech Magazine released the 2021 list, and I was not on it. 

I'll admit it, it would have been cool to be on the list three years in a row. However, I'm glad I'm not. 

There is a perception that if you aren't repeatedly recognized for your work, you'll become irrelevant, or people will devalue your contributions to the field. While some may hold this belief, I think it's an unfortunate result of the competitive nature of consulting and the number of fads we've seen a phase in and out of education.

Practically we know quality work doesn't stop when the next list of influencers is posted, but seeing someone fall off a list may still breed negative conations in the back of our minds. 

So, why am I glad I'm not on the list despite knowing how it might affect others? It goes back to an idea often referenced in training or strategy sessions "the smartest person in the room, is the room." The more voices that are elevated and shared, the better for everyone in the community. 

These lists have repeatedly promoted the same people for far too long, making it harder for new perspectives to be shared. This behavior makes it even more difficult for people of different races, classes, genders, sexual orientations, and those with disabilities to amplify their voice. Repeating some elements of your top # list isn't a bad thing, but as with all things in life, balance is vital. I hope moving forward, those creating lists like this, whether they are individuals, brands, or publications, keep this in mind. 

Again, I'm glad I'm not on the list this year. I appreciated being featured in the past, and I'm always grateful when my work is honored and acknowledged. However, not being on the list this year makes room for a least one new person, and I'd rather have more than an animation and a song. 

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Congratulations to those on the 2021 list. I'm excited to network with new individuals and am proud of the members of my PLN featured on the list. If you haven't read the list yet, I encourage you to read it and follow the featured individuals. 

A year and a week later.

 

Since March 13th, 2020 time seems like an illusion. Everything just blends together as we all try to stay safe and stay sane during this crazy time. But as of today, I've been with CDWG for a year and a week.

I started with CDWG on February 24th, 2020 and 19 days later the U.S. shut down. My husband and I are in a privileged situation, we own a home and have been able to consistently work from home. However, the first year and a week as an Education Strategist hasn't been what I thought it would be.

As cliche as it sounds, it's been better. It hasn't all been roses, I can't even count all the late nights anymore. However, at the end of the day, I'm truly happy I took the leap and accepted this position. Over the past year, I've learned so much about education funding and policy, I've gotten to advocate at levels I never would have imagined, and I'm met so many amazing educators and administrators that are truly inspiring. I feel incredibly privileged when I get to collaborate with school staff because, again with the cliches, despite regional and population differences there is a lot to learn from each other and I'm happy to be a conduit for sharing.

Another reason this role is better than I thought is how much I've grown over the past year. Yes, the knowledge, experience, and expertise are great but I've been empowered to grow as an advocate for digital equity, diversity, and inclusion. While I will always have room to grow, I don't feel like an imposter. I feel confident in myself and the messages I want to share. After a particularly detailed email or a complicated call, I find myself being thankful. I know February 23rd, 2020 Ari would have taken on the situation differently. I can think of times when I reacted too quickly or gave up my power.

I find it crazy what a difference a year and a week makes. I didn't think changing jobs would make such a personal difference. I thought it would be a new challenge, a new way to grow as an educational technology professional. That's happened of course, and again there are days when I collapse into a chair mentally and physically drained, so no rose-colored glasses here. 

I'm thankful I've found a role where I can grow and positively affect things that matter to me. I know many in education technology aren't as lucky so I have to acknowledge this privilege. Despite the winding road it took to get to March 3rd, 2021 it's the road I needed even though I couldn't see past the next turn.

So what's up next moving towards year two and two weeks later? My focus right now, both for myself and those I serve, is not going back to school but moving forward towards what many of us have envisioned education could be for a long time. I'm excited to be a part of that work, and even more so I'm excited to help others along the way. 

What are snow days really for?

 

As a SoCal gal, I've never experienced a snow day. Heck, I've only seen snow fall from the sky once in my life and I was in London when it happened.

With inclement weather hitting many cities across the US I'm noticing a lot of debate about snow days versus remote learning days.

Many are saying snow days are a right of passage versus the idea that now that we know we can do remote learning days, why wouldn't we capitalize on the technology?

Now, number one, if a snow day is called due to danger incited by weather, don't do remote learning. Folx need to focus on safety in those instances and doing your assignments shouldn't add to the stress of unsafe conditions.

But the reason I wanted to jump on the blog today was the idea that snow days are a welcome respite from zoom fatigue. One person I spoke with shared that even before the pandemic, snow days were important for the mental health of students, families, and school staff and because of that should be preserved now and moving forward.

If random acts of weather provide a much needed mental health break, why haven't schools build this into their calendars? If these breaks are so important then why aren't students, families, and school staff across the US able to have a snow day?

The pandemic has exposed a number of issues in K12 education and mental health is a huge part of what's happening now and should be greatly considered moving forward.

Students in SoCal may never experience a true snow day, but I hope conversations like this help us think about the mental health of students, families, and school staff in new ways. As we move beyond the pandemic and return to campus there is a lot to unpack here and I hope it results in positive change. 

CDW-G Presents CITE's Women in Technology Executive Q&A Panel

I am so lucky to be moderating this panel with CITE. As a woman in educational technology sometimes I feel like an imposter in informational technology environments. So to be able to learn from these women is so valuable. 

Every time I feel that twinge of doubt I'm reminded about my success in my introduction to computer science class in college. It makes me wonder what could have been if I had more exposure and support to the world of technology beyond coding my MySpace. Those feelings led me to collaborate with Girls Who Code and the Picademy program to help inspire educators to inspire young women. 

I'm so happy to be able to continue that work and expand it with the support of organizations like CITE and CDW-G.

A Broken Tooth, a Changed Person, and a Broken System

In December a piece of a filling broke and left a decent size hole in my tooth. Luckily it didn't hurt on a day to day basis and I could still eat, but I had to adjust how I chew.

Even before the break I favored chewing on my left side because it just felt so awkward to chew on the right side. Maybe the break was trying to warn me? The break made it a much more necessary choice to avoid making the break worse.

I got it fixed this Tuesday and on Wednesday night I comfortably chewed on both sides of my mouth for the first time in recent memory. It was a strange experience because I know I used to chew on both sides, but last night it felt like the first time. Also, my mouth naturally took over and made it happen, when for the last 30ish days it was doing something completely different.

This experience got me thinking about my life as a woman of color. What have I changed about myself because of circumstances outside of my control? How often do we have a moment when we realized we've changed? What allows for moments to happen that give us the ability to rethink what we're doing or how we feel about it?  Are there warning signs I never noticed? How do I create more opportunities to reflect without the dental damage? Will 'muscle memory' allow me to go back to things I wish hadn't changed?

As I continued to marinate on this, I thought about where some  'breaks' may have happened in my life. While some were fairly recent, my mind drifted back to college and my K12 experience. The education system in both apparent and hidden ways changes students. Some changes are for the better, and others are not. 

In this situation with my tooth, I'm privileged to have health insurance. However, when education affects our students, what resources do they have to help them address situations like this in their lives?

This isn't something I can solve in one blog, but I wanted to get these thoughts out of my head and into the world. In light of 2019, more people have been forced to see the inequities that exist in education, and I believe this is part of it. It's cliche but people are right when they say we have the opportunity to reimagine education based on all we've learned during remote and hybrid learning. So I'll be continuing to think about this experience, and I'm interested to hear our thoughts too.

I hope there will be more attention brought to questions like this. Just because you get used to something as it is, doesn't mean that's what it should be.

20 for 2020 Follow Up

 

Last December (isn't it a relief to say that?), I started a Twitter project called 20 for 2020, and as promised, here is the list of all the tweets in one place. I will adjust the grammar and punctuation because I don't know about you, but I will sacrifice punctuation and turn words into numbers for character count's sake. So here they are, starting with the first going all the way until New Year's Eve with a short reflection on the whole process at the end.

1. Happy though from 2020: The floor on #edtech use has been raised way up! I hope I never hear "I can't do that" or even worse, "My kids can't do that" ever again. Technology will continue to change, but we've learned students' and teachers' capacity is greater than we believed. We can't forget that.
2. I've always been a fan of shopping, but this year, I've focused on #sustainability. Thrifting helps me find unique pieces, give items a second life, and it's a small way I can reduce my carbon footprint. Despite going through multiple stay at home orders, I've enjoyed thrifting online too.
3. While flossing, I lost a piece of filling the next available appointment 1/20, and my phone repair is lost in the mail. Also, I never heard from my Dr about an appointment request I made on the 7th. Their next available, 12/31. I'm annoyed, YET I'm not letting this ruin my day. 2019 me would not have been this chill. #GROWTH
4. I've read EdCode a lot this year & weirdly, I enjoy it. I never took the time to understand it, and I can't remember it being explained to me. It was a nebulous thing referenced to incite compliance. Moving forward, I plan to integrate EdCode when relevant into my professional development to help demystify and inform.
5. A hope for 2020- More we, less me.
6. I take medication to help address my mental health. In 2021, I need to be better at remembering them. There's nothing like going to take my meds in the morning and being like, 'Oh, I didn't take my meds yesterday. No wonder my day felt off.' I guess this also about striving for consistency as well.
7. My phone was MIA for about a week or so, and I liked it. I plan on scaling down my apps & using do not disturb way more often. So if you need me, you know where to find me, but maybe take a walk or play a video game while you wait for me to respond, because that is probably how I'm relaxing if I don't pick up.
8. Sometimes you get so busy you forget to do something you like, and that's ok.
9. A personal work in progress is learning how to better manage my time, so I can truly relax. Not my usual 'after I do the dishes I'll be relaxed,' relaxing.
10. I've been all Google since the early 2000s, but I will say, now that I work in a primarily Microsoft environment, there are some cool tools and features I've been sleeping on. However, I still find myself yelling at M365 from time to time. I miss Clippy. I could use his help sometimes.
11. After an injury and the pandemic, I've lost my way with health and fitness. I've realized it's hard for me to be self-directed in this arena of life. I'm hopeful now that I recognize this, I can invest in ways to help me feel strong and healthy again. Now to figure out where to start.
12. This year I updated from a travel hairdryer & plastic combs to a full-size GHD one and bamboo combs. I'm still learning how to style my hair like my stylist, but I'm able to duplicate the shine & softness, which is pretty cool. It's a nice thing to do for myself to feel cute, and I like it.
13. I've been lucky to build relationships online & it was always amazing getting to meet folx IRL, but sadly we all know how that worked for 2020. However, 2020 reminded me how lucky I am to have connected w/so many wonderful folx & to never take the IRL moments for granted.
14. Staying at home has given me a new appreciation for the moment of the sun, as I've watched the spots my cat likes to sit move throughout the house.
15. Communication isn't a destination. It's a long-distance road trip.
16. Some people learned to make bread, some got fit, others perfected a personal hobby, and I learned how to do my nails. However, you spent your time during various stay-at-home orders and quarantines. Don't let yourself or others shame you with how you spent your time. #StayAtHome
17. I think this qualifies as a life hack. If you have room, save some wire hangers from the dry cleaner. We've used them for minor makeshift repairs, garden stuff, and holiday decorations. Also, many dry cleaners recycle them, so that's always better than throwing them away.
18. We all get nervous during performance reviews, starting a new job, and the pandemic amplified those emotions. But today, I was reminded you never know how people see and value you and/or your work even if people up and down the chain of command and in your PLN don't actively tell you. Trust yourself, trust your work.
19. I work with folx in education across the US, specifically the West Coast. As cliche as it sounds, the problems facing states and districts are not so different across state lines. One major trend I've witnessed is the push and pull between guidance vs. mandates and how to lead while still honoring local needs and local work.
20. Just because things went your way doesn't mean you shouldn't stop to reflect and assess. If things didn't go your way doesn't mean you failed or that you've lost momentum.

Overall, I'm glad I did this project. It was nice to have one thing to do a day to think and reflect every day. It showed me why lots of folx like doing gratitude journals and one a day lists. I'm not sure I'll jump on that train, but it was cool to gain insight.

It was interesting that the tweets with the highest interactions based on likes (11, 6, and 16) had nothing to do with education. They were all about some sort of mental health concept. I think in many ways, that's a sign of the overall vibe of 2020 and a societal shift toward being more open to sharing and learning about mental health. Which if that's a side effect of 2020, I think that's something to be happy about. 

During 20 for 2020, I also posted this meme-based tweet (not a part of the series), and it got 281 likes. This makes sense because memes and images do well on social media, but it makes me wonder about the time I invest in social media posts. I truly believe it's not about the likes, but part of why I've always loved social media is for the connections. That tweet had 23 comments, versus the 15 total for all of 20 for 2020, so not a lot of connections. I'm not going to stop posting, but this might be another reminder about time management and work-life balance. 

Overall, I'm happy I did this because even though it was pretty inconsequential, this exercise showed me I can do something for 20 days in a row. Well, almost 20. There were two days where I had to double up because I missed a day, but it wasn't a horrible failure, and no one else noticed the doubles but me. Besides, fitness regimens have rest days, so this works right. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Knowing I have the capacity to do this is helpful because I have a lot of goals, big and small, that I'd like to work on in 2021, and consistency would be really helpful as I strive to make progress towards each one.

Speaking of goals, maybe I'll share those too. ;)