Reflection

COVID-19: Quaranteaching

Quaran-teaching

Today marks the onset of my return as an educator from “spring break” through what I foresee will be the remainder of the school year. As I type, it has been exactly one month since I meandered through the hallways of my school, scurrying alongside the hustle and bustle that was the student body. I miss the steady hum and heartbeat that encapsulates every school building throughout the country. I miss the informal handshakes, high fives, and glistening smiles that greeted me as students entered our learning space. While I’ve tried my best to inhibit its passing, time has continuously ticked away with reckless abandonment to maintaining any sense of normalcy.

Inpatient

If you asked me to describe my lifestyle a month ago I could easily describe it in one word – busy. Between teaching K-12 in the daytime and adult learners in the evening, advising the Class of 2020, coaching, attempting to write a dissertation, getting in a lift at LA Fitness, it seemed like there was everything but free time in my life. Amidst all of these responsibilities, I’ve done my best to uphold the highest of standards and expectations for my craft. My rationale? As drastic as it may sound, in the world of education, millions of lives are at stake each and every day.

In a split second, however, with the implementation of protective social distancing measures and the closing of schools throughout the country, an overwhelming amount of time suddenly came flooding back into my life. What was I to do? As someone who repeatedly tells those around him,

Time is our most precious commodity. Savor every second as though it’s your last.

Bow-Tie Joe

I wanted to ensure that with this opportunity to hit the reset button, I did it the right way. And so, I got to work. Ironic right? With the haste and rapidity that was the transition to #RemoteLearning, I realized that with the face-to-face opportunity I was granted 180 days a year, as much as I have made an earnest effort to develop the social-emotional capacity of my learners – what one may call transferable “soft skills” if you’re a non-educator reading this – the transition to #RemoteLearning simply amplified that I was no closer to where I wanted my learners to be than when I had started. Why did it seem like all of a sudden that the ability to manage one’s time, respond (or even draft) an email, readily identify our strengths and weaknesses as learners seem to evade us, as adults and children? Being a mathematics educator by design has its fair share of pros and cons but I’ve come to realize in the past 31 days that I have a very valuable moment in my career to spend a considerable amount of time developing and strengthening the soft skills that I feel students should acquire rather than the mathematical knowledge they are supposed to acquire. Radical, I know. Please don’t tell on me.

Remedy

Model it. Make mistakes. Be human. While I’ve maintained my traditional standards in delivering mathematical content, I’ve spent a significant amount of time considering how to “teach” the intangible qualities I possess that have helped me be most successful.

To begin, I created a Remote Learning Schedule template for my students since I believe this is the instance in their lives where they literally have to self-regulate their ENTIRE day. The schedule breaks down their days on an hourly basis which spurred me to reflect upon my own “schedule”. While I know the negative connotations associated with “hustle culture” I adore it and thrive in that mindset. I did, however, begin to question the type of work I was able to complete at different instances throughout the day and at what point in the day did I consider a mental “shut down” where I read or dare I say it, watch Netflix or some other streaming service. Things I never would have considered 31 days ago.

Alongside the Remote Learning Schedule, through emails and any other form of virtual correspondence, I’ve made it a point to coach students in how we portray ourselves virtually and what it means to engage responsibly in digital citizenship and enhance our individual capacity in digital literacy. For me, this means resuscitating this blog to capture my thoughts and get them onto virtual paper and in the creation of a YouTube channel to support our learning. I’m hopeful that these platforms, amongst others, will afford me another opportunity to model the soft skills I hope they acquire before they depart my virtual classroom and ultimately, are better equipped to embrace the world and the adversity and opportunities that await.

Most importantly, I’ve hyper-emphasized the importance of communication (and accountability). Any time I’ve communicated information to my learners during this period of time, I do so under the assumption it will most likely not be read – with the unprecedented circumstances we’ve all been adapting to on the fly, we’re all allowed a few brain farts along the way, especially if we’re a child, still trying to make sense of all of this. And so, while I may not hear from a student for a week and receive no indication that anything troubling has arisen when they do decide to establish contact with me regarding an assignment (or anything else for that matter) that is past due, we engage in a simple conversation. While they unknowingly have already been granted additional time to submit the assignment regardless of circumstance, it’s the emphasis on the simple ability to communicate, even when we don’t necessarily want to explain our thoughts or actions that I perceive to be the more significant teachable moment. Within my own network, I feel like I’m in and out of Google Hangouts or FaceTimes on a daily basis with colleagues, classmates, friends, and family – it’s by far the most amount of time I’ve spent in my adult life reconnecting and chopping it up with so many individuals who are or have been integral to both my personal and professional growth. I can’t get enough of it! I’ve had some of the most meaningful conversations with those near and dear to my heart during this period of time.

So while the COVID-19 pandemic has seemingly inhibited many liberties we have grown accustomed to, I’m grateful that it’s afforded me the opportunity as an individual and as an educator to value those liberties and that I have a platform to try and instill those same core values in my learners. Meanwhile, despite time continuing to steadily tick away as I wrote this, less is still most certainly more. I’ll maximize more of my life and career moving forward by doing less and making the most of the time that I do have. Fortunately, it’s a beautiful day for a bike ride – “work” can wait.

I wonder if my students still even think of me as their mathematics teacher – I hope not.

Thanks for reading and sharing.

Bow-Tie Joe

By Bow Tie Joe, ago

I’m in the Wrong Room…

It is astonishing at how quickly time can pass. Exactly one week ago, I was in San Francisco, CA, about to embark on what would be the most humbling and exhilarating experience of my professional career. To provide you with some context and doing my best Thanos impersonation, rewinding the hands of time to April, I was informed that I had been selected to join the third cohort of the Desmos Fellowship Program. So last Thursday evening I boarded a 5:45 flight out of Newark International and headed to San Francisco, California where I did a little bit of sightseeing, a whole lot of learning, and oddly enough, found myself in the wrong room at the right time.

Anticipatory Set

In the weeks leading up to Fellows weekend, members of the new cohort, the Desmos team, and previous Fellows who would be attending, communicated via Slack using weekly prompts to get to know one another and grow. The conversation was rich and entertaining – the excitement was palpable even through the internet!

With all of my roles within my organization, I usually don’t get to experience society’s view of a “teacher’s summer” so I took full advantage of this opportunity to do a little exploring and sightseeing prior to the meeting of the minds on Friday at 4. Thanks, Desmos!

A few months back, I began a series #WellTravelED offering some tips and tricks on how to go on amazing vacations on a teacher’s salary. This is one of those ways. There are a ton of educational companies and organizations offering fellowship opportunities for you to be a part of – all you have to do is apply!

I hit the ground running at 7:30 AM Friday morning, eager to visit many of the iconic locations in San Francisco. I am a HUGE Full House fan so first up on my agenda was starting my day just like the introduction credits at the Painted Ladies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up on the agenda was the Golden Gate Bridge but if I could insert some insider knowledge, I recommend starting at Baker Beach where you can hike the Batteries to Bluffs trail, a segment of the California Coastal Trail. It yielded some truly spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and the rugged cliffs along the California Coast. After about an hour or so, I had finally reached the coveted Golden Gate Bridge. Happy to admit that there was a significant amount of fog so I was able to get the true San Franciscan experience!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, I had been exploring for about 4 hours and lunchtime was steadily approaching so I reached out to my roommate for the weekend about grabbing some lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf. Before I made my way there I had to make a pit-stop to see the Tanner’s!

I don’t think anyone was home when I got there though…bummer. Anyway, as I made my way from the Full House house to Fisherman’s Wharf my Uber driver decided to take me on the visitor’s route and I was able to take in a stunning view and experience the angular nightmare that is Lombard street. I met up with Jay and Nikki, two phenomenal Hawaiian mathematics educators where we shared some great seafood and conversation prior to heading over to HQ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heart of the Lesson

When we first arrived at Desmos HQ on Friday afternoon, I noticed an extremely tall man, none other than Dan Meyer, standing at the door greeting each of us as we entered. He’s much taller in person. I was one of the earlier arrivals because my roommate, Jay, had to report slightly earlier to help set up. Upon entering the one floor that encompasses this amazing company, the first thing that caught my attention was their design philosophy, to which we came to learn, grounds every single decision they make. At their core, Desmos wants to ensure that students and teachers have access to the best free in-class resource. It is beatifically pure.

 

 Lost in thought about their design philosophy, the room quickly began to fill as did the energy and excitement for what was to come that weekend. A rough guess would put the cumulative amount of experience in the room at easily over 1000 years whereas I was entering the room at four. Whoa, talk about overwhelming and feeling like I was in the wrong room. I shook off my initial uncertainties and did what I do best, mixed and mingled, eager to learn! Day one began with a warm and heartfelt introduction from Shelley and segued into a “Math & Mingle” where we meandered around the room engaging with our newfound colleagues over a set of mathematical challenges and getting to know each other more informally. The night concluded and we headed back to the hotel to grab a few drinks and continue the conversation.

In case you’re wondering, only four people asked where my bow-tie was…

Day 2 began promptly at 8 AM to which I showed up to HQ sporting a very for the occasion pi bow-tie and my staple New York Yankees cap! We tipped off with Dan leading us through the Graphing Stories activity and the activity builder principles that govern the activities Desmos designs. He prompted all of us to consider how we provide feedback to students – distinguishing between ego-oriented versus task-oriented feedback – to maximize the levels of learning our students can experience. Thank god he used the anonymize feature of the Desmos platform because he decided to use my response to spark this discussion on feedback. Talk about nerve-wracking but absolutely insightful to see how and why my response was being critiqued and how to foster this conversation from the vantage point of the facilitator.

Next up, Shelley and Jenny walked us through the Desmos design process as the primary focus for the weekend was creating an activity using the Activity Builder. Initially, the design process was intense and at times overwhelming but understanding how intentional Desmos is with every decision in creating their activities inspired me to continuously question each decision I was making and to not lower my expectations.

Following the design process, Chris “Mr. Miyagi” Danielson led us on a very brief tour into the wonderful world of computation layer. If you’re interested in learning about the Mr. Miyagi pun, make sure you apply to hear it from the Sensei himself! Having released computation layer to the general public in April, many of the fellows had already established a working knowledge of the language (not me!) which allows users to construct or edit the features and activities with code. My biggest takeaway from Chris’s very brief session was to not become fixated on learning “how” to code but on how to maximize the power that comes along with CL.

The guy that does nothing (his words, not mine), Eli Luberoff, gave an entertaining and inspirational keynote during lunchtime about the history, mission, and vision of Desmos. While he claims to do nothing, I don’t buy it. The man embodies what it means to be a leader. He spoke at great length about each member of the Desmos team, emphasizing the significance of their importance to the work Desmos is doing. It was also humbling and insightful to see firsthand the voluminous growth of the company and understand its fixation on “opening the doors to the ever-exclusive mathematics club” and it’s philosophy on helping every student learn math and love learning math.

At its best, mathematics is equity, power, and justice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We broke into working sessions after lunch to which I joined a group of educators who were interested in discussing incorporating Desmos into the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum. Shortly after, I attended another session on assessing students using the Desmos Activity Builder by Julie Reulbach. It was enlightening and empowering to be in a room with like-minded educators who were eager to create a much more rich, dynamic learning environment for their students. I left the session with way too many ideas…or maybe not enough. *Shrugs shoulders*

To conclude, Desmos is definitely attuned to the importance of creating a relaxing atmosphere and building community so they hosted a happy hour with some Desmos trivia to conclude a day of learning. While my “Go For Gold” squad didn’t take home the top spot and a signed headshot of Denis, it brings a smile to my face thinking of that moment, a bunch of dedicated educators finding some time to disconnect and enjoy each other’s company

Even though HQ was shutting down for the evening, Desmos had reserved a school bus for us at the Soma Street Food Trucks, a space for food, friends, and conversations. While we were engrossed in learning as much as Desmos could possibly throw at us, it was awesome to get a chance to sit back, disconnect from the world of education for a few hours, and remember what it’s like when we turn off our educator switch. Interestingly enough, I came to find out that Eli is a huge soccer fan and player! I invited him to come and play on my Jersey team if he ever finds himself on the East Coast.

Day 3 started off with some lighthearted fun as Dan heckled me for not wearing another bow-tie and ordered me to return to the hotel immediately and not return until I had found a new one. Mission accomplished. Sidebar: I like to think me and my roomie, Jay (in the middle), looked pretty comfortable in our Sunday finest.  Oh and you know we had to stream part of the world cup final! Jocelyn was quite pleased that France won…I wonder why?

 

Anyway, the learning on day three was kicked off as Michael led us the Charge! Activity to model the facilitation the Desmos team is looking for if we, as fellows, are looking to become certified Desmos presenters. Being someone that enjoys analyzing professional development experiences, I was blown away at Michael’s authentic performance and by the end, my notebook was filled with a bunch of moves that I had picked up along the way. Chris finished off the presentation by igniting a discussion about how technology helps and hinders the solution and grounding every technology decision in mathematics pedagogy. We segued into breakout sessions where I gravitated towards the session on designing professional development that maximizes resources and teacher learning. I was once again blown away by the fluidity and adaptability that Bob and Steph displayed as they led us through their session. The last part of the fellowship experience was to add any last-minute touches on an activity we had created (or started to create) and do a show and tell to get feedback from one another on how to make them better. They’re BIG on feedback, you couldn’t tell? The activities that my newfound colleagues had created were mind-numbingly BRILLIANT!

As is the case with any sound professional development experience, we concluded the weekend of learning with reflection, sharing it with our newfound Desmos family, and taking a family photo. Oh, and we got a swag bag and that iconic green Desmos polo! O-FFICIAL!

Closure

It’s been a week since the fellowship and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the transformative opportunity that I had the pleasure of participating in. I suppose it’s a great time to allude to my blog title! I just finished up my fourth year as an educator and as I had mentioned previously, there was a WEALTH of knowledge and experience in the fellowship and on the Desmos team. Being selected for this year’s fellowship was an incredible opportunity that I’ll forever be grateful for. There were a few times, however, where I felt my inexperience was certainly a drawback. You see, my incessant work ethic and extremely high personal expectations have often translated into my colleagues turning to me for information, guidance, and support. Participating in this fellowship was the first time in a very long time that I was far from the center of my comfort zone, which I knew was going to be great for my growth, but difficult to adapt to in the moment. I know I have a long way to go before I consider my mathematical pedagogy adept. Apparently, my personal thoughts regarding my contributions to the fellowship escaped my inner sanctum unknowingly in a conversation I was having with someone and they proceeded to drop the following knowledge bomb on me:

If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.

And it clicked. Any situation that plucks you from the comfort of your area of expertise and places you in an environment where you are no longer the most experienced or talented person in the room is exactly where you want to be. Find the wrong room and walk right in. Make yourself uncomfortable, share and be proud of what you bring to the room, and prepare yourself for what could quite possibly the most exponential amount of learning you have ever experienced.

As I gear up for my fifth year in the trenches, I take great pride in what I have been able to accomplish in my time as an educator and am invigorated at the opportunity to develop my understanding as to what it means to teach mathematics with my Desmos family and other like-minded math educators on Twitter! I am honored, humbled, and grateful for the opportunity Desmos provided me and other mathematics educators and I look forward to many more years of collaborating and working towards every student learning math and love learning it!

Exit Ticket

Special thanks to Oscar for the endless conversation about math, coaching, our doctorates, and salsa dancing.

Special thanks to Nico and Christelle for more endless conversation and being my first Thai and Korean food experience! You kept that “in the wrong room” experience going for me at all hours of the day!

To the rest of my fellows, I miss you all more than an expanded Taylor Series!

Oh, and before I forget, a special shout-out to my Garden State brother and fellow Fellow, Nick Corley, for plenty of offline conversation and support prior to my trip out West!

And as always thank-you, to you, for reading and sharing!

Bow-Tie Joe

By Bow Tie Joe, ago

Best Teacher I Ever Had Was…

A few months ago I was watching the 15th episode of Hell’s Kitchen where Chef Milly was eliminated from the competition. In his confessional, blanked by tears, he thanked Chef Gordon Ramsey for the opportunity, knowledge, and love that he was showered with during his time under Chef Ramsey’s tutelage. Witnessing that unparalleled amount of love a student had for his teacher got me to thinking about who that corresponding educator was in my life – the person that gave me a chance to shine, provided me with invaluable knowledge, and showered me with copious amounts of love during my time as their student.

Seeing as it was Teacher Appreciation Week last week and the week is traditionally accustomed to displays of gratitude and recognition I found it only fitting that I write a blog post about who that person was and why they were the best teacher I ever had. It also coincidentally coincided with the conclusion of another semester in my doctoral program so I found myself with some free time…haha! Without further adieu, the best teacher that I ever had was my high school band director, Mr. Jeffrey Moore.

Mr. Moore and I go way back. We met in 2003 when I was in the 6th grade. Little did I know it, he was going to be an educator that played a large role in the person that I am today. During that time my family didn’t have the means necessary to purchase a clarinet for my personal use. I take it that Mr. Moore recognized my affinity for all things music and allowed me to borrow a clarinet from the high school so long as I returned it when I arrived there for the following school year (my town has a combined junior/senior high school). Unbeknownst to me, the opportunity he had just created would blossom into such an integral part of my life.

Why was Mr. Moore the best teacher I’ve ever had? The answer is simple and complex at the same time. Mr. Moore was much more than just my music teacher/band director…he was my friend, a 2nd father, my competition, and my role model all at exactly the right moments. Under his tutelage, he pushed me well past my limits and created opportunities for me that under normal circumstances I never would have had the opportunity.

As the years passed by and I carefully honed my craft I began to earn admittance into highly selective regional honors bands where practices were, of course, located a considerable distance from where I lived. Having two parents that needed to work in order to provide for my family (thanks, Mom and Dad!) Mr. Moore willingly stepped in to drive me to and from my rehearsal’s more times than I could possibly remember, the first being when I was accepted into the All South Jersey Junior High Band. The drive was over an hour and a half from our school. At first, the car ride was awkward; I was 13 and going through the weirdest phase of my life to date, not to mention being the only person from my school selected to this honors band in my band director’s entire career.

Talk about heightened expectations.

Mr. Moore simply did what he did best…got to know who I was as a person, rather than simply treating me as a student he interacted with for 40 minutes each day. After the initial awkwardness had subsided, I don’t remember a point where I actually stopped talking or asking him an endless barrage of questions. We talked about everything from sports to musical selections to aspirations and everything in between. Looking back, it was these early experiences that sparked my obsession with music and aspirations to become a music educator.

After my first experience playing in an honors band, I began to practice my craft incessantly. My family was never able to afford private lessons so I always had a chip on my shoulder trying to compete with the best. Upon entering high school, I made it my priority to be the first freshman to earn first chair honors and it was ultimately up to Mr. Moore to disrupt what was (in my opinion) an outdated unspoken rule that parts were assigned based on seniority. After securing the first chair my freshman year, Mr. Moore continued to raise the bar higher and higher, never allowing myself to be satisfied with where I was at. He instilled in me a work ethic that has since provided me with a plethora of opportunities and subsequent success from those opportunities. He transcended what it meant to be “just a teacher” and he slowly became my competition and trainer, simultaneously. I would often find myself after school in the band room for hours practicing a piece for an upcoming audition while he provided constructive criticism from the confines of his office, further fueling my desire to supersede my master. Never once did I stop and realize that he was staying after school, voluntarily, to allow me to have a place to practice and someone to train me.

As I sit here writing this post, 15 years after our first encounter, I can’t help but chuckle at the last conversation Mr. Moore and I had this past December, after the annual winter concert where he invites alumni to return and conclude the concert with the high school band. He’s inquiring about everything going on in my life – teaching, my family, the doctoral program – typical Mr. Moore behavior and I’m going on and on – typical Bow-Tie Joe behavior. Out of left field, 10 years after I had finished my high school marching band career as a drum major, he rhetorically asks me if I ever wondered why he didn’t select me to be one of the two drum majors my junior year. Flashing back to that moment in time I recall being a typical teenager and making a mistake. Nothing severe but it did involve Mr. Moore stepping into the situation to vouch for me on my behalf so that the consequences of my actions weren’t as severe as they probably should have been. After all this time I had simply attributed that poor life choice as to why I wasn’t selected to be the drum major my junior year…and I never gave it a second thought, until this past December. Here I was a 26-year-old adult, going on 10 years removed from high school, and my former mentor drops a bomb on me telling me it had nothing to do with the poor decision I made that year. It had everything to do with simply not being ready to lead the program.

What…?! How?!

I was one of the best musicians to ever walk through the hallways of my high school. How could I not have been ready?! Mr. Moore possessed this innate ability to recognize exactly how to extract the very best out of his students. He realized that while I might have possessed some of the characteristics commonly associated with leadership, I was still missing one key lesson: I had to learn to follow before I could lead. I had continuously raised the bar for myself and others in the band as it pertained to our abilities and subsequent performance. He informed me that by not selecting me he had hoped to ignite a fire within me to understand the needs of those around me and support them in their development and growth as well. While there was seemingly nothing wrong with how I operated in regard to my own dedication to my abilities, maintaining a high (and unrealistic) level of expectations for others could be disastrous. He helped me realize and understand that not everyone operates on the same frequency and you can’t ever expect them to and that it’s okay. Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. Needless to say, that school year flew by and when I auditioned again for the drum major position, I was more than ready for the job. Due to Mr. Moore’s decision-making one year prior, the growth that I had experienced had paid off dividends as the band and I were able to have a record-breaking season.

Now that I’ve become the “old man” of the alumni group that returns every December to play in the winter concert, I’ve become much more cognizant of how all of my interactions with my band director (past and present) influenced and molded me into the man and educator that I am today. So I thank you, Mr. Moore, for teaching me more about myself in the six years that we spent together than I’ve learned in my entire academic career. And I could go on and on for hours about everything this man does for his students but I’ll keep it short and sweet. You helped me understand the importance of always keeping your room open for students needing a place to escape too. You helped me understand the amount of effort and energy it takes to be one of the very best at something and how to persevere even after you experience moments of failure and rejection. And lastly, and most importantly, you created for me a home away from home. You are the best teacher I’ve ever had.

Who was the best teacher you ever had? Why?

Thanks for reading and sharing!

Bow-Tie Joe

By Bow Tie Joe, ago

Why You SHOULD Apply to a Doctoral Program

Tomorrow I begin the third semester of courses in my quest to obtain a doctorate in education. To date, I have taken five courses, established lifelong friendships and connections, and have enhanced my own learning beyond what I possibly could imagine.

Over the past six months, numerous people have asked me my reasoning for why I decided to pursue a doctoral degree so I decided to sit down and write a piece about it. Here are my top reasons for why you should apply to a doctoral (or any graduate level) program.

Knowledge Communities + Lifelong Learning

Knowledge communities are safe, storytelling environments where educators narrate the rawness of their experiences, negotiate meaning, and authorize their own and others’ interpretations of situations. Now you may be sitting there thinking, yes, this is more commonly referred to as the faculty room. And you’re right, it can be! Knowledge communities can be both found or created, the main requirement being that they are built upon shared experiences rather than bureaucratic and hierarchical structures. However, if you operate within an organization where opportunities for this type of community to emerge is stifled or the organizational culture minimizes this type of collegiality, you can find a harmonious knowledge community within any graduate level program. These knowledge communities are organically lived, fueled by a practical view of knowledge, and my favorite feature is that they can exist based on membership from various groups. My doctoral knowledge community has members that are assistant superintendents, building administrators, teachers, and members from the sector of higher education. Together, we share experiences and engage in conversations dedicated to pushing education further, devoid of any held titles, instead, recognizing each other for what we are by nature, educators and lifelong learners.

Getting Connected

Getting connected has by far been one of the biggest takeaways during my time in the doctoral program. Since the inception of this program, I’ve grown my tribe to include K-12 teachers, building administrators, district-level administrators, and educators who operate in the area of higher education. These connections have served me well during my time within the program. I’ve acquired invaluable knowledge and advice from colleagues that have been in education as long as I’ve been alive! The potential for opportunities to collaborate both within and outside of the program in addition to the amount of personal growth I am experiencing due to these connections validates my decision to apply to this doctoral program and begin the journey of becoming Dr. Dziuba.

PEDs – Pedagogically Enhanced Decisions

While they may be banned and considered cheating in the sports, taking copious amounts of PEDs within education is a regimen I strongly encourage you to engage in! To put it simply, your abilities both as a learner and an educator will increase exponentially by taking part in a graduate-level program. In addition to the endless amounts of conversations that you’ll have with those around you about pedagogical strategies, professional development offerings, or technology implemented in classrooms, buildings, and organizations the information that you will glean from the literature that you incessantly bombarded with will provide you with a plethora of options to choose from that will enhance your instruction and support you in your efforts to deliver a world-class education to your students. Furthermore, you can serve as a spark within your organization and share your knowledge regarding PEDs and improve the instructional practices of your colleagues.

Role-Model

Lastly, and in my personal opinion the most important, applying to a doctoral program was a decision I made to serve as a better role model for my two younger brothers, Nick and Giovanni, as well as my students. I don’t have children but if I did they would also be included with the above mentioned for who I wished to positively impact with my decision to enter the program. Simply applying to a doctoral program served as an opportunity for me to engage in a conversation with my youngest brother, a junior in high school, about not letting where you come from define what you think you are able to accomplish and that in order to compete in the rapidly-changing society that we live in, you must continuously set new expectations for yourself and look to improve. Being the Class of 2020 co-advisor I have also made a commitment to my students that I will finish and defend my dissertation by the summer of 2020 and that they in-turn must make the same commitment to me and graduate and make plans to pursue additional opportunities beyond high school. Wish us both luck!!!

In the future, I plan on writing a post featuring some tips to help those of you who have recently embarked on a journey to obtain a doctorate in education but for those of you mulling it over and considering applying here’s a Bow-Tie Joe helpful hint:

Most programs don’t concern themselves with GRE scores. It’s simply a matter of ensuring you have the resiliency to go and complete a standardized test.

Bottom Line: GO TAKE THAT TEST and APPLY!

Thanks for reading and sharing!

Bow-Tie Joe

By Bow Tie Joe, ago