This month, I have been celebrating and reflecting on Women's History Month more than ever. I've found myself consuming content celebrating women and reflecting on the challenges facing women on a daily basis. I've even found myself being bolder than ever in naming patriarchal practices and systems and challenging them. What makes this year different? I'm also reflecting hard on the field of education. With a female-dominated workforce, it should be no surprise that the challenges facing education are often the same challenges facing women. Just to name a few:

• The labor of teachers/women is highly undervalued and many are assumed to be incompetent until they are able to demonstrate otherwise
• We fail to recognize the emotional labor women/teachers do and acknowledge it as equally strenuous as other kinds of labor. This also means we don't adequately compensate them for this work.
• Teachers/women are not expected to draw healthy boundaries for themselves and those boundaries that attempt to be drawn are often ignored. Sacrifice for the common good is encouraged either implicitly or explicitly.

It is absolutely mind-blowing that despite having a massive saturation of female employees, the percentage of women in leadership positions pales in comparison to demographic of the workforce. Those who do enter into leadership roles often are expected to emulate more masculine qualities to navigate the terrain and be 'successful'. Being in education does not exclude them from facing all of the same challenges in other industries. When I talk to folks about gender discrimination and I tell them I work in education, they often assume I don't face as many challenges when it comes to problematic patriarchal behavior and practices. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I have actually found that because education has so many women in the industry, the challenges of gender discrimination hurt more because a larger percentage of the workforce is being crushed by this weight. This is why I believe that until we reckon with gender discrimination in the workplace (and world), we don't stand a chance at making progress toward a better education system. This includes fighting for equal dignity, rights, and protections for people of all gender identities. Because of this, I have dedicated a good portion of my self-development and learning to inform myself about the challenges of the patriarchy, root causes, and ways we can build a better and more inclusive world. In honor of Women's History Month, below are some of the resources I've found helpful in learning more about women's issues, which are a portion of the broader fight for gender equality. 

We should all be feminists
One of my favorite TED talks is from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie called We should all be feminists. Her perspective and delivery of the importance of feminism is masterful. She swiftly pushes against the misconception that feminism is about hating men while illustrating the microaggressions experienced by women on a daily basis that are harmful to everyone. Her book with the same title is a quick read worth digging into.

My Family
This post would not be complete without mention of my family. I grew up with 4 younger sisters and parents who always told us there was absolutely nothing we couldn't do. They believed every dream we had for our future was a good and valid one simply because it was ours. My mother modeled strength and care as she managed our household. It was challenging to juggle all of the moving pieces, but she did it with immense love and honesty. My dad was far ahead of his time - truly valuing women as completely equal in value to men. At the time, this wasn't remarkable to me. It was a foundational cornerstone to my upbringing to appreciate the unique contributions each person brings to the world and not see anyone as better or worse than anyone else. I didn't understand why the other moms flocked to my dad on the sidelines during soccer games, but I get it now. The simple act of treating them with equal dignity and seeing them as equal partners in this world was a revolution all on its own and contrary to so much of what still happens in society. It's this partnership that made my parents a great team - each seeing and valuing each other's strengths and what it brought to our family. While I have done a lot of research on feminism since, it is this upbringing that keeps me grounded and holds me steady. This foundation helps me see how dismantling gender discrimination will be necessary to move forward on the issues facing the field of education and we must all do out part.

I would like to close this post with a quote from Emma Watson. My dad casually referenced this quote one afternoon while discussing problematic patriarchal behaviors and how eliminating gender stereotypes frees everyone. When I laughed at how easily he pulled this reference, he didn't understand how rare it was for a man to care so deeply about gender equality, much less be able to quote a woman for rationale on why it is important. I can only hope that we see more people like this in the next generations to come.
"We don't often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes... but I can see that that they are and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence. ~Emma Watson

 Welcome to another post from my series called The Gifts of Education. In this series, I am reflecting on the skills and experiences I have been gifted over my past 12+ years in education. In this post, I wanted to share some of the ways education has made me a better communicator. I hope you enjoy this post, along with others in the series, as much as I enjoy writing them.

When selecting a major for college, I would be lying if I didn't say part of the appeal of majoring in math was the lack of writing classes. It's not that I was bad at writing, I just didn't like it. I felt clumsy and struggled to put my thoughts into words that were received how I intended. I frequently felt misunderstood and found myself preferring to say nothing at all.  This made it easy for my high school English teacher to persuade me to take the AP exam, despite never taking an AP course. I saw it as my ticket out of having to take any more writing classes. Luckily, I managed to pass with a 4, earning a waiver for my writing credits. I never took a single English or writing class ever again. 
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This is not to say that I didn't have other forms of education when it came to writing. There is nothing that pushes your communication skills quite like scripting out a lesson plan focused on explaining complex mathematical concepts in ways that are both accessible and mathematically accurate. To add another layer on top of it, imagine you are teaching those mathematical concepts to multilingual learners who will also need support with the English vocabulary and syntax that accompanies these lessons. Nothing pushed me more to improve my communication than being responsible for supporting both the math and language development of my students. I learned how to communicate concisely with incredible precision in a way that built a common understanding. In education, there is no debate - it is your responsibility as the teacher to communicate in ways that are well understood by your students with all of the accompanying complexities. Those who can create productive feedback loops (also known as checks for understanding in teacher talk) are able to perfect the strategies that prove most effective. Put another way - by taking responsibility for communicating effectively and repeatedly asking for feedback on that communication, I have refined this skill into a creative art that bring me great joy and makes me a great facilitator and communicator. Thank you to all of the students and colleagues who have given me feedback over the years to help me become the communicator I am today. While I will always have a lot to learn, I know how much I have grown.
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Reflecting over the years, below are some of my most proud and favorite moments that come to mind when it comes to communication and some side-note commentary:

• Explaining the disc method of integration to high-school students using paperclips and cut-out foam discs (and many other calculus concepts). If you want to see me at my nerdiest, ask me to explain what calculus is to you sometime.
• Creating a trailer-style video to launch a division-wide tech training series with a interactive game board to promote healthy competition and fun! 
• Pitching a hybrid bias and equity training model to executive leadership for sponsorship using only a one-page document. I learned that when pitching ideas to those with a lot of decisions to make, sticking to one page makes it more likely to be internalized. I make use of visuals, lists, tables, and text formatting to make the most of of the visual real estate. 
• Creating a comprehensive onboarding system for new employees with a presentation, user guide, and coordinated resource documents that can be customized per employee.
• Creating helpful training and user guides for different technology platforms, grounded in strong pedagogy and best-practices. I often use a clickable table of contents with specific sections to help folks find what they need quickly (AKA hyperdocs)
• Sending a quick screen cast to a colleague instead of writing a long and potentially confusing email (I find this is often faster, impressive, AND more effective).
• Using annotated screenshots to provide troubleshooting directions. I use the Chrome extension Awesome Screenshot and it saves time on trying to write out directions.
• Building out a comprehensive implementation guide for district-wide use of Learning Management Systems and distributing individual copies for each school. It was important not to include EVERYTHING, but only the most important strategies for schools while also providing all of the essential resources (video tutorials, family communication templates, etc.)
• Creating videos that explain technical processes in accessible language that is also precise. I created one for each of the major LMS integrations we had at the district level and it DRAMATICALLY decreased the number of incidents we had. I think sometimes we underestimate the importance of building capacity in users to self-troubleshoot and should be doing more of this when supporting tech application. Plus, it was super fun and I got to use cool music.
• Making the time to walk over to a colleague's desk to ask them a question or talk to them about something instead of sending another email. Unless an email is better for processing the information or getting a response in time, I prioritize this approach. It helps me build relationships and lets me use my facial expressions and tone of voice to convey ideas better. That way, if I have to send an email, they can read it with my specific tone.
• Providing human-centered framing to an initiative or problem-solving session. I've seen many great ideas launched without proper framing that fall flat and fail. There is often so much conversation going on in the planning behind the scenes that we forget to share the journey with those impacted. We assume that our time is better spent elsewhere, when it couldn't be farther from the truth. If something is really that important, make the time to provide context and framing, including the 'why' behind the work.
• Providing reassurance and human to someone needing technical support. During the height of emergency remote learning, I would sometimes get teachers on the phone crying about an issue they had with their Learning Management System course. If I detected any distress in their voice, I would start out the call with something like 'I can only imagine how stressful this must be for your right now. With everything going on, I know you are probably overloaded and this is the last thing you needed. I want you to know that I understand how hard this must be for you and I am committed to helping you solve this problem. You are in good hands. How can I help you today?" It was amazing how acknowledging the difficulty of the situation and connecting as a human first helped the troubleshooting process. Sometimes, it's easy to think we don't have time for these moments, but I find when we don't pause to take them it ends up taking longer and being less effective. It is worth the time, every time.

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Overall, I've learned that communication can take many forms and the most important thing is that you find what works for the idea you are trying to convey with your target audience. Don't be afraid to play with different formats - text, tables, visuals, videos, talking in person, etc. If you're unsure, build in checks for understanding to help yourself improve and let people know effective communication is important to you. As any educator will tell you, feedback is a great teacher, as long as we take the time to listen.

Welcome to the second post in my series that I'm lovingly calling the Gifts of Education. While my post on creativity focused on a more obvious change education brought to my life, I wanted to focus my second post on a less obvious skill that I have gained: the ability to form strong, productive relationships. I hope you enjoy it.

A few years ago, my parents brought me some of my old belongings in boxes, many from high school. While I rarely wrote in my diary on a regular basis, I would periodically provide updates on the highlights of that current point in my life. One entry had the following line - 

• Friends: none

As I read the line, I felt the knot in my stomach grow as a remembered how true this statement was during that time. I was frequently bullied and quickly drove away into the sunset after my graduation day, vowing to never speak to anyone who walked those halls with me ever again. While my college years were considerably better, I still had massive social anxiety and rarely initiated conversations on my own, especially outside my immediate friend group.

Now, I imagine at least some readers (especially educators) are now thinking 'If you didn't have strong relationship building skills, how on EARTH did you make it as a teacher?' It is only in hindsight that I'm able to offer an explanation for why I had a knack for building relationships with students, despite my lack of practice in my younger years. 

1. My desire to enter education was grounded in an unwavering belief that every single student I would ever meet is incredibly capable and has some form of brilliance worth cultivating and offering to the world, even if it isn't recognized by societal standards.
2. The most important thing a teacher can do to ensure student learning and success is to build strong relationships with their students. Without this, you don't stand a chance at becoming an amazing teacher.

So that's exactly what I focused on and studied - how to build relationships with my students and find the thing that made them shine (especially if it wasn't math). I mimicked techniques for conversation and getting to know students from my mentor teachers and took a true interest in the students in my care. Even if I didn't particularly like all of my students, I could still list one inspiring thing about each of them and it made me proud to know them. While this approach was pragmatic, I also found that taking on this view made me a happier person and our classroom a special place. I could survive my encounters with adults (a few I came to befriend), but it was nowhere near the community I had built within our classroom walls each school year. That time will forever be stamped in my mind as one filled with joy and connection.
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This takes me to my first job working with ONLY adults... no students to buffer my social awkwardness, no class bell to help me escape stressful social situations with colleagues. I was on my own with just 'grown ups' in the land of cubicles and meeting rooms. As the Professional Learning Specialist for the Division of Student Equity and Opportunity, I was primarily tasked with improving the quality of professional learning across all teams - many supporting areas where I had little to no expertise. While the task seemed overwhelming at first, my manager started me off with the perfect first assignment: build relationships with each of the departments I supported. My ability to get projects (and potentially keep my job) was dependent upon the department teams wanting to work with me and finding my support valuable. Based upon my experience with students, I knew that strong relationships would be crucial to my success.

While I had never attempted something like this before, I did what any good mathematician would do in this kind of situation: rework the problem a little bit until it resembled something I've already solved and then 'return to case 1' (aka, do what I did before). I expanded my previous solution to include adults, which provided me the following amended approach: 

1. I believe that every single person I will ever meet is incredibly capable and has some form of brilliance worth cultivating and offering to the world, even if it isn't recognized by societal standards.
2. The most important thing a person can do to ensure another person's learning and success is to build a strong relationship with them. Without this, you don't stand a chance at becoming an amazing collaborator (or friend). 

Since this time, I have made it my mission to find the brilliance that shines within every person I meet. It turns out that this is a really great way to build strong relationships, especially those that form incredible collaborative teams. When you all know each other's strengths and admire what they bring to the team, you can do some pretty amazing things together. Your time spent meeting together becomes a special place of joy and camaraderie, even in the most challenging of moments. 

This leads me to the brief exchange I had with a teacher that I used to coach. He probably doesn't remember it, but I will remember this conversation for the rest of my life as the moment I tangibly understood my approach to building relationships. We ran into each other going opposite directions in the school stairwell and he stopped me.

• T: How do you do it?
• Me: Um... do what?
• T: See something good about everyone. You know something great about everyone you meet and you help others see it.
• Me: Because I think there is something good about everyone. And even if there isn't, believing it makes me a happier person and I would rather live my life that way.​

It also turns out that when you take this approach, you make some really good friends :) Thank you to all of the people in my life that helped me along this journey -  especially the colleagues turned friends (my high school self would be so happy to know you exist!). Most importantly, thank you to the students I spent so many days with in our classroom. It was the first place within school walls I ever felt like I belonged and had a community I could call my own. It continues to mean more to me than you will ever know. I hope I was able to give you even a fraction of the gift you gave me. Thank you 💗​

I am both sad and incredibly excited to share that I have decided to leave the K-12 education system and pursue other opportunities that allow me to use the many skills I have gained over the past twelve+ years. As I seek my next adventure, it felt important to reflect on how education has shaped me both professionally and personally. My hope is to write a series of these posts to both hold the past dear to my heart while opening up to the possibilities ahead. 

It was hard to ignore the fact by this point - I mostly created content for a living and started coloring my hair with bold, bright colors to match my love for elegant and eye-catching designs. Whether I had always been a creative person and didn't know it or education had brought out my creative side, I am incredibly grateful that I was able to cultivate this part of myself. It has brought so much joy to my work and my life and I can't imagine not having this core part of my identity. ​

Thank you for reading my first post of this series. It feels good to blog again and use this platform as a means for reflection. I hope you'll join me for my upcoming posts, where I plan to reflect on the ways that my work in education has gifted me with strengths in relationship-building, collaboration, systems-design, communication, and more.