What am I waiting for?

  So, I've been doing this for a long time, but still don't feel like an expert.  What will make me an expert?  How good do I have to be?  I am ordinary, but extraordinary, too.  I have acquired so many tools, but don't use any of them as well as some people can.  What does that mean?

  It means I'm doing what I can, with what I have, where I am.  It means I'm making the tools mine.  It means I'm improvising, trying new things, and learning from my mistakes.

  I am fortunate to teach in a school that allows me to make mistakes.  And, bottom line, my kids are acquiring Spanish!  I have evidence with their video diaries that they are advancing in their performance.

  When I interviewed for department head, the US director asked me to encourage my department to present at conferences.  And I thought, wow, I should share at a conference!  Then I thought, what would I share about?  What am I expert at?  And I realized, again, that I am on a journey, and I am advancing in my skill, and I have stuff to share even if I haven't arrived.

  I was thinking about doing one more PD on running the circle, and I thought, what are they going to tell me that I don't already know?  Yes, it's nice to be reminded and to have reassurance, but at some point I have to pull up my big girl pants and jump in!

  So, this year, that's my goal.  To use the tools I have and really dive into what I know works.  To more than get my feet wet, but completely submerge myself in strategies and techniques that are challenging for me, a brain-damaged introvert, but that I can do and want to do and will do!

  Here's to a good year!