First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for students for the Canyons School District. A big day! We have all been working so hard to have things ready for today. I have loved being in the trenches and being part of the effort to ensure a great educational experience for our students. I love the team I work with, our department, and our district leaders. Our superintendent is a great leader - caring, intelligent, energetic - and the IT department directors are too. I feel so happy to be part of such a great team.

Now I am anxious and excited to really get to work with teachers and students. It feels good to work hard, problem solve, and really make a difference. I am working hard to earn the trust of the teachers and principals at my assigned schools. I have loved the teaching and presenting I have done so far.

First day memorable moments:

• Wearing a bright yellow district T-shirt and having everyone stare at me all day
• Sitting in the computer lab working on teacher laptops and looking up in time to see a 2nd grader making funny faces at me as she walked down the hall
• Talking with the superintendent for 20 minutes and having him genuinely enjoying conversing with me
• Being able to say hello to my former principal and coworkers as I traveled from school to school
• Helping a lost 2nd grader find her bus - and her smile when we found it
  
• "Thank you"s from teachers when their laptops were returned and ready for use
• Passionate conversations about how best to help students through good teaching practices and technology use
• Sharing in everyone's first day experiences via Twitter
• Jethro puncturing his Coke can with a plastic knife and causing it to explode
• Liz sharing her ugly stick doll with everyone
• The enthusiasm and nervousness of first-year teachers
• Hard-working, dedicated teachers, students, administrators, and district employees

I feel fortunate and excited to have my new position as an Educational Technology Specialist! I love being a part of the new district! It's going to be a great year!