Rain drizzled on my “yes, it’s a good hair day! {fist pump}” hair as I ran from one black awning to the next trying not to get too wet. I peaked inside the first door.
“No, that is not it,” I thought.
I ran to the second door. Looking through the glass of the the door I couldn’t make out if there was anyone in there. I leaned closer to see if I could see anyone. The door to the restaurant opened and I was welcomed by a blonde hair, warm smiling, black rimmed glasses wearing beauty.
With parking figured out I nervously signed in and put my name tag on. I was super excited to be at my second Girls Lunch Out event, but nervous to be doing it all by myself. Before I knew it I was talking and meeting new woman. Today was the day I was going to learn about vlogging. Was I ever going to vlog, probably not, but I loved using videos in the classroom and on my classroom blog. I was excited to hear about it and learn something new. Soon it was time to meet everyone. Each woman took their turn introducing themselves (I have to work on my introduction by the way). I was in aw of the amazingness each woman brought to this event. Then she stood up. The blonde hair, warm smiling, black rimmed glasses wearing beauty.
“Hi I’m Meredith Sinclair…”
“Meredith Sinclair….Meredith Synclair …” rattled through my brain.
{insert light bulb}
“Oh my lordy that is the speaker today! I talked to her. She helped me. She’s nice. She’s funny. I can’t wait to see hear her talk!” my brain rambled on.
Lunch was surrounded with tweeting, instagraming and getting to know each other. We were filled with a fantastic meal (by Francesca’s on Taylor) of salad, bruchetta, two types of pasta, a little wine. It was wonderful. As bites of dessert were being taken it was time for the guest speaker… yep Meredith Synclair of themeredithsinclair.com. As she pitched to us the impact and audience we can reach with vlogging. She gave us tips on vlogging, how to get the best light, make sure you have good sound and how to teach yourself to edit video. I took notes on the tips and make sure you remember to do this’s. Between the notes and fantastic tips I still thought not in your life am I ever going to vlog woman. Meredith continued to talk, sharing her tips and make sure you’s. Suddenly she went from instructional to inspiring. She shared with us a deep passion, her phenomenal work ethic, her drive, her passion and her unwavering belief in us. Words like “pretend like you’re talking to your best friend”, “you don’t have to be perfect”, “you can do it” and suddenly my thoughts of no I will never vlog moved to I can create what I love and I can do anything I put my mind to (… to date I am seriously debating with myself whether to do a vlog or not…oh it might be fun…no no no vlogging…damn you Meredith!)
So when Meredith shared her fantastic smile and warm personality with me one last time
I knew not only was I deeply inspired by this incredibly dynamic, creative, inspirational, make you feel like you can try anything woman… I had a serious crush!
This was my second Girls Lunch Out event. It was even more fun then the first. It was wonderful to see friends from the last event and meet and talk to mind blowing, strong, fantastically amazing woman that participated in it
I was not reimbursed, payed or given any samples for this post. All thoughts and opinions regarding Meredith, Girls Lunch Out and Francesca’s are my own. They really are that fabulous!!
There are things, ideas, tools, technology in education that are made to specifically do [insert description]. I am reflecting on the power of mismatch thinking. The power of thinking differently about what things are created to do. Changing our thinking, retraining our thinking to think about what they can do for us and our student’s learning. What if we stopped thinking what technology and tools say they can do and started using what they can do to enhance student learning and improve teaching.