I haven’t written a blog since February 2024. In a way, it has been very satisfying not to write anything in blog form. I did write. I always write. I even published a book last year, Stories in My Scars: Poems. That was an awesome experience from start to finish! I self-published that book and even designed the book cover. Stories in My Scars is about my mental health and spiritual journey, and I hope you will read it if you haven’t already. (And when you do, please be kind and leave a review, even if you hated it.)
I will continue to author books. Poetry for sure, and perhaps a children’s book one day. And I am still, by day, Elijah the educator. District MLSS Coach, to be more specific. I love the work I do in that role. I have had great opportunities to learn from others, teach others, and grow overall as an educator. That was always the purpose of my educational blog: to document what I was learning. That’s how the concept and idea for my first book, A Place They Love: Creating a Healthy School Culture and Positively Impacting Students, came to be in my mind. I was blogging a lot, and I began to see the common theme throughout each post. I began connecting one thing to another, and A Place They Love came to be. I love talking education with just about anyone who will listen. Or in this case, writing about education for anyone who will read.
At present, I have no plans for writing any more books related to education. (I also never thought I would’ve published one book, let alone two books; so, who knows?) Admittedly, however, I have not been writing to document my learning as a coach. Why not? There is a lot to write about, because I have learned a lot.
- I thought I knew a lot about MLSS (nationally known as MTSS) when I started this job, and realized I knew a small fragment of much, much more.
- I have learned alongside three incredible MLSS coaches, each contributing their wisdom and expertise.
- I have seen some amazing teachers and their students learning and interacting with each other in meaningful ways.
- I’ve collaborated with ELA, math, technology, and special education resource teachers to offer practical supports for teachers.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. There are also:
- Frustrating circumstances are out of my control
- Teachers (not many but some) who aren’t open to my coaching
- Leaders (not all but some) who should but don’t know what MLSS is
- Collaborations that fall flat and need to be revisited the next week
- Scheduling conflicts
That’s a lot. I should be writing about this! This blog is where I will share my ongoing learning for documenting what I learn and to engage with others. I don’t know if you journal or blog. Maybe you podcast like I did for a while. Those are all ways of documenting or capturing what we learn concretely and enjoyably. And in the process, the reader learns. Or perhaps they question or even challenge back. That’s all part of what leads to learning.
So, I’m moving forward with that as the objective. I’ll be posting as often as I learn and capture the lesson creatively. I want to deepen my learning through the expression of writing. I want to extend the invitation to you. It might not be grand or mind-blowing, but I, as always, will do my best to be vulnerable and creative, humble and confident, open to learning and willing to teach. I hope you will join me in continuing our growth as educators.
Take care, my friends!
Elijah
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