Jennifer Dykerman

Ms. D in Progress

I am About to Enter a Scary Journey, and I need some Help!

November 29, 2018 /

One thing I love about my school is that we are encouraged to tackle the big items. Not just the ones that we have viewed as important in the past, but the stuff that is going on with the students right now. This was introduced to the school just over two years ago thanks to @gvogt. He came to me one day and said “Read this and tell me what you think.”

I am not sure if you have heard of it, but the title was 13 Reasons Why. I have never read a book so fast in my life – I was definitely done in one sitting. So, when I went back to Graham, I said “We need to do this!” Not only was is a engaging story, but it was stuff that they were dealing with on a daily basis – social media, peer pressure, bullying etc. At the time, our Grade 9 students were not being nice to each other so to have them all reading the same book where we could have controlled conversations about stuff they can relate to was so impactful. We also had some great activities going on so we could drive some themes home. Of course there were parents that were not happy with our choice, but one we explained that they are dealing with these issues on a day-to-day basis and we were doing them no service by ignoring it, they were more understanding.

So what do you do when something works? Make more work for yourself and make it bigger!!

Last year, we did a Grade 9/10 read where both grades were engaging in the same novel. We read This is Where is Ends, a story about a school shooting. We started this just after the Parkland School Shooting – relevant to our kids. We did the same thing: discussion questions, conversations, activities, whatever we could squeeze in. The kids responded and were already asking what we would be reading this year.

The answer is The Hate U Give. Yes, we are doing it. I am tackling race – and I am scared! This is a story about a young black female who witnesses her friend being wrongfully shot by a white police officer.  She is also a girl who goes outside if her community to go to a predominately white private school. She struggles with her identity and what she should do next. The story itself does not scare me, but having conversations with students of different races does.

In our Grade 9 and 10 class, we have 5 black students. 5 out of 109! How can I get up in front of them as a fairly privileged white female and ask questions about racism – something I personally have not had to deal with?

The first thing I did was speak to these 5 students before we even started reading the book. I explained the concept to them and that we would be having class discussions and that if they are every uncomfortable, or they are not happy with how the conversations are going to come talk to me. I also did not want them to feel like because they are black, that they should feel like they need to answer everything. They have all lived very different lives. I am lucky that I have a good relationship with all of them and they actually thanked me for speaking to them first!

We are in our first week of the read and with a class discussion coming up next week, I am getting nervous. I have lots of questions ready but I am worried that these questions are not going to have the impact that I am looking for. How can I reach these kids in a powerful way?

Here is where I need some help. I would love to find a good Ted Talk, or even speaker to come to our school to talk to the students. I want them to get it – to feel what someone real has gone through. 

The good news is, I think I am doing something good. I received an e-mail from a black student who graduated last year thanking me for doing a novel with a strong, black female character. She felt it was something that was missing at the school and is excited that her brother is getting to participate in this experience! I guess if that’s not a sign to keep going – nothing is! Wish me luck!

P.S @gvogt … missing your support! 🙂

 

Joe Zoo is not Just a Children’s Board Game!

April 10, 2018 /

One thing that stuck out to me at our last face-to-face was not only the amazing interactions with fellow cohorters, but the presentation that was given to us on a interesting new tool called “Joe Zoo”. I can remember being in the back of the room listening to the presentation, and about 3 minutes in, turning to Graham who was looking at me and we both new this is something that we wanted to try. We (or Graham) spoke to someone here at school and got us signed up to try the program here at RNS.

I have just finished my first assignment using Joe Zoo and I am very happy to say that I am in love. As and English teacher, I would always be so jealous of the Math and Science teachers who assign a test and are able to mark their class sets in a certain amount of time. Take whatever number that is, and multiply it by 10, and that is the amount of time it takes me to mark my English assignments or essays. Realistically, it probably should not, but the amount of feedback I want to give my students makes it hard. I was never content marking them all by hand, and was not happy with using our school’s Portal and I tried Google Classroom last year and nothing seemed to fit for me… until now!

Setting up Joe Zoo was simple. There are a lot of videos to help you through it and the best part is it only takes the students about 30 seconds to register once you fill in their information. Super easy! I played around with the comments that were pre loaded and figured out how to make my own.  These are the basic Grammar and Mechanics of writing that come with the program and offer fix it tips for the kids as well. I was able to choose which ones were incorporated, because in Grade 9, we are not looking for perfect writing yet. It’s a process.

I began to correct the essays but soon realized that I wanted to add more into the comments sections. What if I really like something? Maybe they incorporate quotes into their writing in a smooth way. I want to be able to give them the positive feedback as well. So, back into the comments and I was able to add some of my own.

Now, I was ready to go! It was nice being able to give them feedback on how to improve their writing and also be able to give them some positive feedback as well. The writer below does not have the best English as she is one of my ESL students, but giving her a little pat on the back is fun.

Setting up the rubric was also easy. I was able to take a rubric I already had and copied and pasted it into Joe Zoo. I was able to choose how I wanted it to be graded or scored. There were lots of different options.

Last class, it was fun to watch the kids get their feedback. They were a little overwhelmed with the different colors that show up on their writing, but once they caught on that they represent something – and that they are not all bad colors, they enjoyed seeing their feedback and taking the time to fix it.

Once I had finished, I was able to export my grading data into Drive. It was a simple click of a button and it gave me everything that I needed to know. This will be so useful. When I mark by hand, I give the students their rubrics and sometime find it hard to track their progress. This way, I can easily look back on any assignment and be able to have a better opinion on my students growth.

I am really excited about this. I have some ideas on how I can better use comments and rubrics now that I have done one and it is just in time for my kids to start their English Priority Week where they will be writing their largest essay yet. I know this program will save me so much time, but that is not what I like about it most. I like that the feedback is powerful and holds them accountable. It is fast but it is almost like I am able to conference with each one very quickly. I know that this will be a great tool to use and suggest it for anyone who spends a lot of time correcting written work. I know this is a new program, and I can’t imagine where it will be headed next.

Thanks Cohort for introducing us to this!

Sometimes Opportunities Just Happen!

March 20, 2018 /

My How Might We Statement is the following: How might we help promote student’s academic resilience through our study of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice? I was struggling with students who just assumed that they did not know and were incapable of finding the answers. This is still my goal, but was pushed aside a little bit in order to look as resilience as a whole.

Recently, our school undertook the musical “Heathers”. For those of you who do not know about it, it is a very topical musical with links to bullying, mental health, LGBTQ+ issues along with many others. This was a heavy production to  put on by our senior school students, but they did such an incredible job.

Before the show, the director and teacher at our school wanted to ensure that students were emotionally prepared for such hot topics. We underwent numerous different projects such as guest speakers and “cookies and conversations” in order to prepare them a bit. The director also reached out to me to help plan some activities the week before surrounding topics of mental health. This is something that I am very passionate about and have a group of students who I rely on with activities such as this. There were 5 students and 1 teacher taking on this project for over 300 people.  Here is how it went!

“Mirrorless Monday”

We challenged students to be aware that the things that matter are not found on the outside, but within. They had the opportunity to write uplifting notes on the covered bathroom mirrors instead of worrying about what they looked like on the outside.

“Take What you Need Tuesday”

Sometimes you just need a little something to make your day a little bit better. Tuesday was “Take what you need Tuesday!” Set up in the dining hall there was a bulletin board with some items that might have made students day better. They were encouraged to take a little patience, some piece of mind, or maybe even a little courage. At the same time, if there is something that they wanted to leave behind, grab a post it note, write it down and leave it behind for the day. They were asked to leave some stress about their test, anxiety about a presentation or some drama with friends!

“Word Choice Wednesday”

Wednesday was all about word choice. In chapel we showed this short video…

Words can be so powerful. We have all had moments where we have had something said that has hurt us, but sometimes we forget how powerful something kind or friendly can be. Sometimes we think that it’s the big gestures – but sometimes all you need is a smile, a hello, or a funny joke to make your day. You have no idea how powerful your everyday words can be. The challenge for this day was to let someone know that they have had a positive impact on you. We passed out a sucker to everyone and they were to use it as a conversation starter to thank someone for something they said or did to make the students day, or life better!

“Tag Us Thursday”

Again, in the dinning hall, we had a bulletin board set up for students to complete a random act of kindness. We challenged students to do an act of kindness for someone here at school. If they saw something kind happening on campus, they were to snap a picture and tag @RNS1877 on Twitter or Instagram. 

“Freedom Friday”

To encourage students to be confident and proud of who they are, student were challenged to think about who they really are and to fill out a form with the word that they choose. The Art class helped us in making a large sign with “I AM” in the middle, and over the weekend, some of my boarding girls helped me fill in the words.  Taking ownership in what you are can be so powerful and encouraging. This piece of 8×4 art will be displayed here at the school once the Head of School decides where he wants it.

 

 

My Take Away…. 

This may not have been the academic resilience that I was looking for, but having the ability to promote conversations among the whole school was a very powerful experience for me. I heard some great feedback from staff and students and it was an easy way to have these conversations come to the front. It was a bit of work setting it up, but did not take any time away from teaching time – which is usually the complaint I hear. I am still working on my original “How Might We” statement and am looking to put it into practice by the end of April!

Bouncing Back!

January 3, 2018 /

Well, here it is.

After leaving the second face-to-face, I was more lost than when I begun. The day was amazing – inspiring even, but I did not like where I sat with my “How might we…” statement. I liked it, but I didn’t think that I was pushing myself enough. I have an amazing opportunity to interact and learn from some of the countries best teachers, so why am I not taking full advantage of it?

My original Action Plan idea was to look at our Discovery program and how to make it better. But I know how to do that – we already are making huge improvements from last year.  Why would I isolate myself with something that is so unique to our school when what I want to do is learn from others?

So, moment of truth!

How Might We Statement: How might we help promote student’s academic resilience through our study of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice?

Here is the thing, I love my kids. I really really do, but sometimes I think they are trying to kill me. I have always been very independent and resourceful and the one thing that drives me crazy is when I ask a question, or hand out a task and am met with an immediate “I don’t know.” or “How do I do this?” without having them even look at the requirements or even having finished reading the outline.  When I introduced our Shakespeare unit, I was met with immediate hesitation because of the language and stigma around it.

I find this is a struggle more and more with the students. With how their lives function, phones, Snapchat etc. they are so used to instant gratification without having to wait at all. If they are unable to find the answer within 5 seconds, they think they do not know or do not have an opinion that is important enough. When they come up with a road block, they instinctively ask me right away without even trying something on their own.  They get so stressed out about the little things that it makes me concerned for them. Some of them have no resourcefulness and panic when they come up against something difficult. 

Now I do not have a big plan yet. That is what I will be spending the next few days on. I am hoping to use something difficult like Shakespeare to challenge the kids to take learning into their own hands. I am a pretty hands off teacher, but I think I might be doing it in the wrong way. I want to set them up to stumble and struggle with activities and discussions, but help give them the tools to work their way through it on their own. It will mean less of me telling them what to do, but to be more involved in the process and checking in on them during the process. I have students who struggle already, and I need to be aware of them during this. I also have to think of my ESL students who will need some extra resources.

My hope with this is to help them create some resilience in the classroom. My hope is that when I start this in the classroom, they are able to take it with them to other classes and in their lives in general. Being able to bounce back when up against something difficult is so important for them to learn.

I am looking forward to this. Something completely new to me. I have been looking online for resources for The Merchant of Venice to find some activities to use, but I am always looking for more. I want to get involved with other teachers and use our librarians more effectively.  I want to find something different for them to do as their final project.

I have a lot of unknowns in this process. I really just decided on this the last day of school before the break.

I am looking forward to our next face-to-face to see where this takes me!

 

“I’m going to find her on Instagram and DM her!”

December 19, 2017 /

“The Forest of Hands and Teeth” – a young adult novel about a young girl who needs to escape her secluded village because the fences are broken down by zombies. She tries to escape, and in the mean time looses everything and everyone along the way and finds out that her dreams are not real. 

Inspired yet?

This is the third year that we have read this novel with our Grade 9 English class. It is a nice way to start off the year with a simple read full of amazing symbols and themes. It is relatable enough for the children to get attached, but is also full of fantasy so that they are intrigued by the unknown. Coming into this year, Graham and I were unsure if a third year would be a good idea. Has it already been done? Do the students know what to expect? Should we move on to something else?

We are able to do some great things with the students. Good discussions, our Zombie Day was the best one yet and their projects – or moon shoots – were well done for the most part. But how do we elevate this for the students and make it even more inpactful?

Our idea did not come from Graham or I. One day in class, near the end of the book, one of my students was really upset about the section of the book that she finished reading. “Why did he die? I am not reading this anymore! Everyone dies! What is Carrie Ryan’s problem?” Now these are answers that I can pretend to know or give my input on but the reality is, I have no idea. How can I know? I did not write the book and do not know what the author was thinking during the process.

So I told her, “Why don’t you ask her?”

She responded quickly with “I am going to find her on Instagram and DM her!”

Little did I know, that across the hall in Graham’s classroom, he was having similar reactions with his students. They want to know more. They were not satisfied with the ending of the novel and want to know why! Graham’s class took to Twitter to reach out to Carrie Ryan to find out why!

Somehow – we got a response. We had set up a Skype call with Carrie Ryan herself. We were about to get the answers we were looking for.

We just finished this call and I don’t know who is more inspired – me or the students. We worked together to come up with questions to ask her about her choices as a writer, or the writing process itself and she spent half an hour talking about everything. Characters became more clear, plot twists made sense and you looked at characters in such a different way. We found out that there is no other real meaning to the title – it was something that her husband chose! Students (and I) had no idea what exactly went into writing a book and hearing from a published author that it is okay to write things down that don’t work out in the end was a better teaching moment than I could ever provide. Her talking about how it is the process of writing without fear of judgement that is important was so powerful. Her saying that some of your best ideas come from the times were it seems impossible to write was inspiring.  How amazing is it that next year, if we do the book again, Graham and I are able to have new and more in depth conversations with our students because “we talked to Carrie Ryan herself”.

This just makes me stop and think that nothing is impossible. This all started off as a bit of a joke. Something that the kids undertook themselves. They wanted answers and didn’t think that it would work – but it did. I never would have thought to reach out to an author to get questions answered. I am sure she has much better things to do than speak with students in little Rothesay, New Brunswick. But, Carrie was so kind and excited to hear from a group of students who enjoyed her book so much. It almost seemed like she was just as excited to speak to us as we were to speak to her.

Opportunities like this are possible on so many levels and disciplines, sometimes, you just have to ask.

Who is Really the Teacher?

December 13, 2017 /

I had a moment yesterday. One of those moments that makes you stop and think. One of those moments where a student says something to you and you question who is really the teacher.

At RNS, I teach and houseparent, but I also coach the Varsity Girls Basketball team. This is my third year coaching them and I can honestly say that they are my relief. Not only do I love basketball, but I love this bunch of girls. They are from Grade 8 – 12 (we have a very tall and talented Grade 8 girl this year) and come from different friend groups. You rarely see them hang out outside of the gym, but they are so connected and content when they are together. There is no drama, no fighting and a lot of dancing and laughing. They have the best attitude and sense of humor that they can easily turn a bad day into a good one pretty quick.

Last night, I spent 20 minutes of practice with one particular player. She is in Grade 10, it is her second year on the team, and she is one of the most talented players I have seen in a long time. She is quiet and calm and can shoot three pointers better than anyone I know. She can probably out-shoot any student here at school. Over the past couple of weeks she has been struggling. Her shots have not been falling and I have seen her grow increasingly frustrated with herself. She will never say anything to you, but you can read it on her face. She went from having games where she scores over 30 points, to games with only 2 points.

I decided that at practice last night I would spend some time with just her and see if we can figure out what is going on. I had her shoot three point shots and taught her a couple of new moves to get open. At first, she was throwing up bricks and nothing was working. I began to wonder if having her do this would really benefit her or not. I did not want her to feel more discouraged than she already did. I stopped her, grabbed the ball and just talked to her. I asked her whats going on and to just relax. It seemed like she was losing the fun of the game which is never something I want to see. She expressed that she was feeling frustrated with me – the coach. Holy moment! After talking to her, she was commenting on how in games, we are good at recognizing certain players while leaving out some. We have a lot of new players to the team and have been working hard with them, so we celebrate big time when they do something new or make a shot they have been working on. She felt like she was not getting the same feedback from us.

The worst part about it is… she’s right!

There are a few players on the team that I can relate this to. We have three players that we do not have to worry about. They are leaders on the team. They know what they need to do and they just do it. They make great shots, they make amazing passes, their defence is unbelievable and they rack up the rebounds and steals like it’s their job all while maintaining a positive outlook on the court. They get pushed around by the other teams and never get frustrated. They pick their heads up and keep playing. And what I realized in speaking with her is that I have become complacent in expecting this of them and that is not okay! I had a really good chat with this player. She called me out completely and I appreciated it. I apologized and told her she was right and that it is not fair for her to feel any less praise than anyone else on the team. I want her to improve and develop just as much as any other player on the team. Once our chat was over, she was knocking down three’s just like she used to.

This made me think of not only my basketball team, but my house and classroom as well. I am quick to praise a student for growth and for doing something new, but sometimes I forget the students who are constantly putting in the effort and time to do things right. I am so focused on helping the lower half improve, that I forget about the high-flying kids.  I forget how important and powerful something like praise is. Just a simple “great job”, or “nice work” can go such a long way. I know how much I appreciate it when someone gives me a little bit of praise!

I have so many students that do not get the praise that they deserve and that is completely on me. I need to make sure that I am focused on all of my students or kids or athletes the same. I need to make sure that they are all developing and becoming more than they were when I first met them. It is so simple but sometimes we struggle to tell students how we feel. Being able to express to them why they are important or why they are doing a good job is so powerful. 

  • Why is praise for effort and/or work strategies useful?
    It directly affects students’ beliefs about why they succeed or fail.
  • It leads to increased persistence, self-evaluation, intrinsic motivation and resilience when students encounter obstacles and setbacks.
  • It leads to increased learning and higher achievement.
    Benefits for student performance
    Specifically, students whose teachers praise effort and work strategies rather than praising intelligence will:
  • Apply more, not less, effort when material is difficult for them.
  • Seek challenges.
  • Set higher goals for themselves.
  • Look at failures as opportunities to learn.
  • Increase their efforts rather than withdraw effort and attention.
  • Learn more.

http://www.apa.org/education/k12/using-praise.aspx

Stepping up to the Line

December 2, 2017 /

Yesterday in class, we did an activity with our Grade 9 class. The lucky thing about having our Discovery class is that all three sections have class at once and that we can get the whole group together anytime we want. Another great thing is we are still making this course up as we go – which just means that when something happens at school, or in our community, we have an opportunity to address it.

This past few weeks, we have been dealing with some issues of bullying.  Now I know that this is something that occurs in almost every school and sadly is something that we can not control, but it does not mean that we do not take it personally. It has happened in the classroom, in the dorm, on the teams and everywhere else. At a  staff meeting we had, we were encouraged to talk to our advisor group about the topic.

In Discovery class, we have been noticing that some of this stuff has been going on so we decided to talk to our kids about it a little while ago. We did a mini design thinking with the kids about three different aspect: social, community and learning. We challenged our students to think about how they could become better at each area and to come up with a statement that they could agree to. They would spend until Christmas tracking their behaviors and reflecting on their actions and how they impacted their self, others and the community around them.

Having the avenue to have conversations about this stuff with students has been powerful, but I didn’t know how powerful until yesterday.

After speaking with my co-teachers, Graham and Scott, I thought Friday would be a good day to run an activity. Now I am sure you have all heard of, or watched, “Freedom Writers“. (If not, it’s a must see!) It is an amazing story about a teacher who goes out of her way to reach her students. She struggles with a school who is full of conflict; whether it is racial or socio-economic differences, she was not afraid to comfort them. I was particularly struck by one activity that she did with her very eclectic group of students that required students to step up to a line if a statement applies to them. So I thought to myself, why not try that with my kids?

Now I know what you are thinking. What does a group of students in Rothesay, New Brunswick have in common with a bunch of kids from Long Beach, California? And honestly, not much. But what they do have in common is that although they come from different parts of the world and have different life experiences, they all have something in common. Could be an interest, a value or a part of a life story – but they can all make a connection with every student if they just get to know them.

Coming into this activity, I did not know what to expect. I am asking 40 Grade 9 students personal questions about themselves and asking them to open up to a room of students that they spend time with everyday. A big ask! I prefaced the activity with an intro and two rules: 1. No talking. (laughing giggling, snickering or body movements to suggest anything) and 2. You are not required to answer any question, only if you feel comfortable. I began by asking simple questions like “who likes daytime better than nighttime?” or “anyone who has glasses”. Then, we went deeper with questions like “anyone who have ever felt lonely” or “anyone who is a only child”. Finally, I went for it. I read statements like “anyone who was adopted” or “anyone who has had a family member struggle with addiction”. The most powerful moment was when I read the statement “anyone who has had a parent pass away” and after a few second, we had one girl step up to the line. It took her a few moments and tears were shed, but she was brave and came forward. The moment of silence that took place while she was on the line was the most overwhelming feeling I have had as a teacher. It was a pure moment of trust by this one student, and a moment of empathy and caring from the other 42 people in the room. Watching her step back into her group and see students hold her and give her a tap of support was overwhelming. When I asked students at the end of the activity how it made them feel to watch students go through this exercise there were comments like it gave them empathy for other students, it made them see each other differently and it made them more comfortable knowing they weren’t alone is certain situations.  We asked them to blog about their experience, no questions or no prompts, and it was probably the quietest room of Grade 9 students you will ever see.  No one was at a loss for words.

Taking a risk like this has ignited something in me. The conversation about this activity has carried over during the day and throughout the weekend. Students want more. This make me think about what I am doing with the students and how can I make these learning experiences more common in my classroom. My dad taught me many lessons in life, but one of them is “you have no right to think you are the most important person in the room. You have no idea what other people are dealing with in their own worlds and you have no right to forget that they exists.” It is something I strongly believe and want to encourage my students to be more aware of.

This has made me think. I have such a unique opportunity with this Cohort experience and all of the knowledgeable people I have met, I think I might want to change what my action plan is about and focus more on helping the students learn valuable life lessons that will help them develop as people.

Something I will be thinking about, and looking much more closely at over the next week or so!

 

The kids are worth it – so, so am I!

November 6, 2017 /

This was my past two week…

  1. I booked my Girls Basketball Team on the wrong flights to and from Winnipeg.
  2. I was on duty in my dorm.
  3. I booked my flight, hotel and car for the wrong days for our next Cohort meeting.
  4. My non teaching days were booked up with helping take pictures for an Festival of the Arts, helping the Health Center run a Flu Shot clinic and meetings and phone calls to parents.
  5. Parent Teacher Interviews were on one of my only Sundays off.
  6. Taking my girls to doctor appointments and hospital visits.
  7. Helping my girls work through issues at home and with friends.
  8. Finding out that my family Christmas party is the weekend before I am able to get home.
  9. Reports are due over the next week.
  10. I have yet to correct my English 9 essays that were passed in over a week ago.

I am not sure about all of you, but these past two weeks seemed to have gotten away from me somehow. Every time I seem to check something off my  “to-do” list, there seems to be 7 new items appearing. Sometimes it is my fault – booking flights on the wrong days has meant that I have been on the phone a lot lately – but sometimes it is things that are completely out of my control. I am good at pretending, so whenever a coworker asks how I am doing, or if they can help in any way, I am very good at brushing it off. Being in the constant state of the “I-don’t-know-what’s-going-to-happen-next” has become my comfort zone. Why does this happen? How can you plan for this?

The last couple of years has been the most difficult for me. I left my family (they’re only a 3 hour drive away-don’t worry) and started working a more than full time job where, I am sometimes unable to take care of myself. Our family has dealt with some serious health issues which resulted in me having to become more aware of my mental health. Taking that scary step in asking for help was not the easiest thing I have ever done. It is okay not to be okay, but don’t stay there. The only way out from the bottom is up, right? Every time I get to this point, where I think “What else could possibly be put on my plate?” or “What else? Bring it on!” it takes me a minute to reflect and know that what we do is important and I am able to impact a lot of different people.

Sometimes I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. Like I am flying solo in trying to do things with no help or support. Like I am the one willing to help out, but when I ask for it I get nothing back in return. Then I have a conversation with one of my kids where they say “Thank you for everything.” or “Ms.D! That advice you gave really worked!” or I walk by a classroom on into the dining hall to hear students shouting “MS.D!” and getting lots and lots of high fives and hugs. Or I have a meaningful conversation with a girl I am living with and am able to talk them through a difficult situation. Then you get watch them face that situation and become better from it. These moments are the real moments – when you realize that all of the chaos is worth it!

I promised myself this year, that I would make time for me. I would be conscious of me and do what I need to do to make sure that I am able to be there for my kids at my best, all of the time. One of my goals was to work on myself and push myself outside of my comfort zone – that is what I always preach to my kids and it is unfair of you to ask something of someone that you would not be willing to do yourself, right? Learning more about the Cohort family, it seemed like a perfect fit. Putting myself out there in the world to a bunch of strangers is a terrifying thought. The only thing scarier is the thought of reflecting on myself, so thanks for that I guess!

 

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