#DBC50Summer

#DBCBookBlogs: Run Like A Pirate

/ Alicia Ray / 3 Comments

This girl doesn’t run. I don’t mind a swift walk. But run? No. Thank. You. I will cheer my heart out for you and encourage you the whole way, but I won’t be running beside you.

So why in the world would I be pumped up to read Adam Welcome’s book, Run Like A Pirate? It’s obviously about running. Adam set an outrageous goal to run a marathon each month in 2017… yes, as in 26.2 miles. That kind of marathon. Not a watch every episode of The Office marathon (those are my kind of marathons). Adam talks about his journey through these marathons in the entire book. So, it’s a running book, right?

Wrong! So, so wrong! This book is about digging deep within yourself to achieve the seemingly impossible. If you want a swift kick in the rear, I’m going to recommend you go right to this link… go ahead… here it is again… click Buy Now. Get a copy of Adam Welcome‘s Run Like A Pirate and dig in. Good luck putting it down once you start!

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“When you want something bad enough, and you set the goals high enough, you’re bound to transform into something you’ve never been before.”

“When you wait,  you find reasons why you can’t. Why you won’t. Why you shouldn’t. We need to just do.”

“Remember your dreams and forget what other people say about them.”

“…the only person able to stop me was me. Don’t call me crazy. I just happen to like bold ideas.”

“I believe in you. I know you can do it. I know you will be successful. I know you will figure it out. If you start.”

“Do something that’s hard, something you never thought you could finish, and see what happens.”

“No more excuses and forget about your fear.”

“Many before you have done it. Now it’s your turn.”

Does any of that sound like a running book to you? Well, good… because it’s not. just. about. running.

This book is about setting goals, putting in the work, and achieving your dreams. It’s about the struggle. This book shows us that it is about the journey and not the destination. If nothing else, the quotes referenced above, Adam’s words in the book, are enough to make you think you’re the Kool-Aid man. You know what I’m talking about… the big red jug of Kool-Aid personified that runs through brick walls and says, “oh yeah” in the commercials. Yep, that’s pretty much how I felt the entire time I read the book.

What I love about this book the most is that I can relate to Adam’s commitment to a goal that others thought was crazy. My journey through #DBC50Summer this year was crazy according to others. Heck, there were times it was crazy according to me! Like Adam, there were times I thought about quitting, times I sacrificed sleep, times I wondered if the end would ever come. But then, like Adam… when the end came, I was emotional. So incredibly emotional. As I finished the 50th book, Jennifer Burdis‘s The EduNinja Mindset, I cried. I just let the tears flow. I’m not sure why I was so emotional, but it was one of those I really did this moments. Mentally, it was simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating to read 50 books in 101 days. But like Adam says,

“People are in charge of their lives and in charge of what they do with their time. Nobody is dictating how you spend your time, how often you do something, with what regularity, with whom, or when and where. If you’re pointing a finger and it’s not at yourself then something needs to change.”

The challenge here is the implementation. See, in Ditch that Textbook by Matt Miller, I said that I would let go of fear and just do it. In Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess, I took away his quote, “It’s not supposed to be easy; it’s supposed to be worth it.” In Lead Like A Pirate by Beth Houf and Shelley Burgess, my implementation is to be relentless. For Stories from Webb by Todd Nesloney, I put my biggest dreams out there – I want to write a book. My plan was to wait until I finished each of the Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc books for #DBCBookBlogs, as well as the IMpress book blogs to begin writing.

Adam has convinced me… there is no more waiting. I can’t keep putting this off. Ultimately, I’d love to have it published. But for now, it’s for me. I am going to tell my story. Adam shares with us that saying we’re going to do something means nothing until we have the actions to go along with it. Anyone can say they’re going to run a marathon every month, but not very many actually do it. Adam followed through. He inspired me. I am going to follow through. I’ve talked and talked about this dang book. Now it’s time to write it. I’ve slept with the handwritten outline on the nightstand beside my bed since late May. It’s almost November. It’s time. No more finding excuses.

Thank you, Adam, for kicking my tail. Thank you for writing a book that is not just about running, but about the journey. You are 100% right when you said it’s not about the finish line. It’s about all the times between the start and the finish. For me, that means it’s not about a contract or a publisher. It’s about writing my story. Thinking about it that way takes the [majority of] the fear out of the equation. It’s still scary, but now I’m refocused and writing for me.

I’m going to do something big, something that makes me nervous. And I’m going to start now. Well…after these final two current DBC, Inc books are completed this weekend. Share what your big goals are in the flipgrid designed by Andrea Paulakovich! She and I copilot this space for the purpose of global collaboration on all DBC books! Find an accountability partner there! Follow along with the journey of others using the hashtag #RunLAP. Check out Adam’s website here and subscribe to his YouTube channel here. If you want a dose of Adam’s incredibly inspiring tweets, follow him on Twitter at @mradamwelcome! Here are some of my tweets about #RunLAP:

You know how I said a long time ago that I’ve read (or reread) the Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc books in the order they were released… well, I may have made one small exception… book 56 is nothing like any other book ever put out by the incredible powerhouse that is Dave and Shelley Burgess and I just couldn’t wait to read this book when it was released in July. The teacher in me is kicking in hardcore and getting ready to have so much fun with Dolphins in Trees by Aaron Polansky.

#DBCBookBlogs: Talk To Me

/ Alicia Ray / Leave a comment

June 13, 2018 – I took an insane dive and “cannonballed in” (thanks, Tara) to beginning #DBC50Summer. I had no idea what it would look like, but just knew I wanted to get this crazy idea out there.

June 18, 2018 – I’m sitting in a hotel lobby enjoying a #tlap chat and see this tweet pop up in my notifications. I was blown away that someone had already picked up on the #DBC50Summer challenge and was eager to share what they learned from the Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc books as well. That someone was Andrea Paulakovich, who was then an instructional coach from Kansas, and is now Assistant Director of Learning Services.

June 19, 2018 – After exchanging links to our respective blogs, Andrea was ALL IN! It was her amazing idea to add in the use of Flipgrid only a few days after #DBC50Summer started.

The rest… as they say… is history. Andrea and I have chatted multiple times on Google Hangout and via FaceTime. This lady is amazing & her story is so powerful! I can’t wait to see what is in store for her because it’s going to be epic when it happens!

From this tweet, #tlapsisters was born, ha! Fast forward to August 26 – Andrea sent me a DM about co-writing a blog as we were both reading The Wild Card by Hope & Wade King. Knowing that I didn’t have the ability to add anything else to my plate, and I didn’t want to let her down, I suggested that we wait until #DBC50Summer was over and instead we co-author a post on book 54, Talk to Me by Kim Bearden.

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We set a date to finish the book and Andrea created this incredible Google Doc with all of her notes and ideas for our blog post. (She takes the most detailed notes of anyone I’ve ever seen; further proof that she’s superwoman.) I hopped into the doc last night and I swear, magic happened. Writing side-by-side, literally, in the Doc was incredible. Seeing Andrea’s thoughts form on the page was inspiring and I highly recommend you go check out her other #DBCBookBlogs on her website! Andrea put her amazing artistic spin on our thoughts and created this magazine on yumpu.com (super cool tool, by the way).  You can see the final product below, or use this link if the embedded file is giving you trouble. (You can also look at the PDF of the magazine.)

https://www.yumpu.com/en/embed/view/Eb8kA7UH5gBI6ztc

Didn’t Andrea do a terrific job putting this all together?! I am constantly blown away by her! What a pleasure to co-author this blog with my friend! (Go see Andrea’s story behind Talk to Me on her website here!)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Talk to Me by Kim Bearden! I felt as though she reached through the pages and hugged me multiple times. She gives practical advice on effective communication, not just within education, but for every relationship. Her words about sharing appreciation and validation with others reminded me so much of Beth Houf and Shelley Burgess‘s Anchors of Appreciation in Lead Like A Pirate. I know that I appreciate others, but do others know that I appreciate them? My implementation plan is to show as often and outwardly as possible that I appreciate actions and people as those moments come along.

Follow along with the conversation using the hashtag #talktome and check out Kim’s website here. For more information on the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, GA, check out their website here. Finally, head over to the DBC, Inc website and preview the book for yourself! I know you will love it! After you’ve bought and read it (because you will), share your thoughts on the flipgrid co-piloted by Andrea and me. This collaborative space is available for anyone around the world to share their thoughts on all DBC books!

Book 55 in the DBC, Inc line is Run Like A Pirate by Adam Welcome (yes, that Adam… from Kids Deserve It – woo hoo). This book is going to get me to the core; I can already tell. I believe it’s going to be just the kick in the tail that I need to get me to stop talking about my dreams, and actually taking steps to make them come true. And I’m scared. to. death. I’ve heard it said that if your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough. So now, I’m going to read his book and do all I can to make my dreams a reality.

The 5 W’s (and other FAQ’s) of #DBC50Summer

/ Alicia Ray / 18 Comments

I have been asked so many questions about my #DBC50Summer journey. Some have called it crazy, some said there’s no way I’d finish, while others were encouraging! Mostly though, I’ve had genuine questions. They have come from a place of curiosity from friends and acquaintances and from a desire to replicate from PLN members.

This final #DBC50Summer post will address each of these questions, and allow you a space in the comments below to ask any other questions you may still have. I will answer those as well, as openly and honestly as I can. I am also throwing in a few resources that may help those that are interested in creating their own version of #DBC50Summer. I also have a super-cool, exciting announcement about what’s next that you don’t want to miss!

What is #DBC50Summer?

I created #DBC50Summer as a celebration of the first 50 books released by Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. Using the hashtag, I would share my connections and reflections after reading each of the first 50 books and then implement at least one thing from each book in the 2018-2019 school year in an effort to better my teaching and coaching practices to ultimately benefit student learning, engagement, and empowerment.

Why did you create #DBC50Summer?

In Teach Like A Pirate, Dave Burgess calls it Creative Alchemy. I had nearly half of the collection sitting on a bookshelf and had never read most of the books. I always had an excuse not to read the books; I never have time, something came up, I’m tired, and the like. I met Dave in April at a conference where he was keynoting and I was presenting. I left the conference inspired and used social media to connect with Dave, and stay inspired. After connecting with Dave on Twitter and reconnecting with the #tlap community, I realized how much I missed being active in a Professional Learning Network and I wanted to revive my contributions to a PLN. One of the best ways to share what your students are doing is to blog about it. I used to blog fairly regularly but got out of the habit and was uninspired. After the conference in April, I was inspired again and wanted to blog frequently but needed something to be accountable for blogging. I really wanted new ideas for the 2018-2019 school year as I was beginning to feel complacent in the day-to-day of my job. Looking at my “problems,” #DBC50Summer was a perfect solution to each of them! Blogging about the DBC, Inc books on my shelves and sharing a new idea gained from each book to create a PLN on Twitter which would better my teaching and coaching practices for my students. I just told my husband that I needed to get the rest of the books (insert diabolical laugh here).

Who else is doing #DBC50Summer?

Several people have created their own version of #DBC50Summer this summer! To my knowledge, none of them have been exactly alike, which is part of what makes it so cool! The first to jump on with me was Andrea Paulakovich, who was referenced in every #DBC50Summer blog post as the creator of the flipgrid space (linked below). She completed nine amazing blog posts this summer and is continuing to read and blog! Andrea and I will be working on a collaborative blog post on Talk to Me by Kim Bearden in the coming weeks! I’m excited to work with her to share the awesome from this book! If you did (or plan to do) your own version of #DBC50Summer, please share a link to your blog in the comments below so others can access your reflections & learn with you!!! I’d also love to tweet it out so my PLN can follow along with you! Don’t be shy!

When did you find the time to do all of this?

Y’all… I have no idea! Like anything else, if it’s important enough to you, you’ll find the time to do it. I just found the time. I read during my oldest daughter’s softball practices, I read during my flights to and from Chicago, I read in my hotels while traveling, I read in the hospital when our youngest daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. If there was more than 5 spare moments available, I was reading. I always had the book in my backpack. Almost every night after my family went to bed and the house was quiet, I would sit in the center seat of our sectional in the living room and read until I finished or until I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer. I typically blogged immediately after completing a book, but there were times that I couldn’t wait and had to blog during the book and there was one time that I had to wait a couple of days because the book wrecked my soul.

Where did you get all of your books?

I owned about half of them before starting. These were purchased through Amazon, won at edcamps, or given to me by friends. I finished the collection with a combination of Amazon gift cards, ordering on Amazon with our credit/debit card and asking my husband for forgiveness later (HA – truth!), gifts from friends who knew about #DBC50Summer, and a few were sent to me from the authors themselves. (They are the most generous people ever!)

Which book is your favorite?

If I had a dollar for every time I have been asked this question, I would have a lot of dollars, haha! Asking me to choose my favorite book is like asking which of my students is my favorite, or asking me to choose who is my favorite among my two daughters. I have a different “favorite” every day. My favorite depends on what I need in the moment. After almost every book, I would tell my husband something along the lines of, “Man, this one is incredible; it might be my new favorite.” He’d just roll his eyes. If I were pinned down and had to choose… I’d say Teach Like A Pirate. Without that book, DBC, Inc may not have ever existed. Without that book, I certainly wouldn’t have ever picked up another one because I “didn’t read professional books”. It was the first time I’ve ever felt “normal” in the classroom. Dave gave me permission to be a bit crazy, unorthodox, FUN! That doesn’t mean that I don’t absolutely LOVE the rest of them! It’s like I tell my daughters, “I love you both for different reasons. You are both special to me because you’re you. We have a different relationship than your sister and I have and that makes you my favorite you.” Similarly, I love every book for a different reason. They are all special to me. I have a different relationship with each author and their words within their book(s) and that makes each one of them my favorite on any given day.

I’m doing a book study at my school; which should I choose?

I have no idea! I will usually ask what you want to accomplish with your book study and go from there. Sometimes, I just throw out some random names of books. For a better answer, check out the new DBC, Inc website (linked in resources below). I LOVE it because it separates the books into themes and allows you to read the first few chapters of each book to get a feel for it. This is an incredible feature that I highly suggest you take advantage of!

Come on… are the authors really that nice?

What kind of question is this? It’s been asked though, by more than one person. The answer is a resounding yes! Every author I have interacted with has been incredible! Some I’ve even formed genuine friendships with that I expect to last a lifetime even though we’ve never met face-to-face. Based on what I know of each one, I’d let them babysit my kids. hahaha! In all seriousness, each one that I’ve talked with, and that’s about 85% of them, have been totally genuine, kind, generous, and incredibly thoughtful. I have chatted with them via Google Hangout, Direct Message on Twitter, recently had multiple friend/follow requests on other social media, and some have been so generous to send (despite assurances that they shouldn’t feel obligated by any means and they responded [nearly every time with] but we want to!) their stickers, a copy of their book, t-shirts, and/or other super cool stuff like placemats for use in math instruction and a huge pack of highlighters. Speaking of highlighters…this is one of my favorite questions…

You post all these videos of the highlighting in the books. How many highlighters have you used exactly?

Fantastic question! I have used 2 packs of 6 Clear View Sharpie highlighters, a pack of 18 Mr. Pen highlighters (sent by an author – thank you!), 4 jumbo Sharpie highlighters, 2 of my daughter’s highlighters for school that I had to replace (oops), and 1 pack of 8 retractable highlighters… so, doing the math (I hope I added correctly) – I’ve used 44 highlighters. RIP highlighters – your mark is your legacy and it will live on forever.

When is your book coming out?

I cannot begin to tell you how much this warms my heart every time someone asks this question! I so appreciate that you have that much confidence in me! I do plan to write my story, and I will share my story with my favorite publishers in the future. Whether it is ever released remains to be seen; you’ve seen the quality of writing that is published! They are incredible! For every book that’s published by my favorite publishers there are probably 10-20 books (if not more) that are not published. At the moment, I cannot give a real answer to that question because I’ve not even started writing it yet. You can’t publish something that’s not written. See, there was this thing this summer that took quite a bit of my “spare” time… All I can say is that I will write my story, and if it ever becomes a book, you will be among the first to know!

How much time did it take you to complete #DBC50Summer?

I wrote the first blog post on June 13 and the last book was completed on September 22, so 3 months and 9 days. A book took an average of 3-3 1/2 hours to read (some took less time and some much more) and reflect while reading by highlighting and writing notes in the margins. It would take, on average, between 2-3 hours to write each blog post. The creation of the Where are the PIRATES section of the new DBC, Inc website was a HUGE time saver because the websites were there and I could typically find podcasts and YouTube videos from there. So take 6 hours (average) times 50 books… 300 hours(ish). Working 40 hr work weeks, that would be 7.5 weeks. So over the 14 weeks, this has been similar to a part-time job working over 20 hours a week.

Did you get anything out of it? What’s in it for you?

Pick a variation of that question. It’s probably been the most frequent question I’ve been asked. If you’ve asked it, I adore you and know that I mean this with as much love as possible, but the question, or any variation of the question, is absolutely ridiculous. If you’re asking that question, you don’t “get it” anyway. I’ll just assume that your materialism is showing, so I’ll just answer to that end. I received a super-duper amazingly cool print from DBC, Inc that hangs in my office at work (see pictures below). My school also received a pretty amazing gift as I couldn’t turn down a gift for my teachers; I’m not going to cheat them out of an opportunity to grow and learn if they want it! Dave and Shelley sent a copy of every single book published by their company as a gift to our school! All of them, y’all! I was beyond blown away and literally cried happy tears when I opened the boxes. They are already being checked out and read, and it’s amazing to hear the conversations being had about each one. I received some pretty awesome swag from several of the authors after the posts of their book(s) was/were made. However, the things I value the most has been the encouragement, support, thoughtful notes (both digital and print, email and snail mail), time to connect via Google Hangout, and the friendships that have started. What’s in it for me has always been personal and professional growth in order to reach more teachers and students to enhance student learning. Period. Anything else has been icing on the cake.

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I ran home as fast as I could during a teacher workday lunch to see what this surprise from DBC, Inc was!

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This makes me smile every time I look at it! It’s a #DBC50Summer original – it even has my hashtag in the bottom corner. Yes, I cried.

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So what’s the “big announcement?”

I am so excited to share the big announcement with you! All summer I have been adamant about continuing #DBC50Summer after book 50 and after summer is over. I’ve been trying to figure out what to call it because #DBC50Summer doesn’t fit anymore. The fun will continue with a new hashtag as I will be reading and sharing every DBC, Inc book that is released from now on, starting with the seven books that were released after the 50th was released in early June, 2018! I will also be sharing books from the IMpress line, which Dave discusses in this blog post and George shares here. The DBC, Inc books will continue to be shared in order of release, and the IMpress line will be shared in order of their release. To follow along with the excitement, be sure to add a column to your TweetDeck for (….drum roll….) #DBCBookBlogs!

I cannot wait to share the first book under the new hashtag – the 51st book in the DBC, Inc line is written by none other than THE Tara Martin – yeah, the #BookSnaps, #CannonballIn, #REALedu, #DBCSocialMediaGirl #ContagiouslyEnthusiastic Tara Martin! She wrote the book, Be REAL: Educate from the Heart, and it was released on June 18, 2018 (my oldest daughter’s birthday)! Her book was released just 5 days after I announced the beginning of #DBC50Summer and I nearly changed the name to #DBC51Summer because I was so excited for her (and us)! But now, her book is the first to be blogged & shared under #DBCBookBlogs! The post will be coming soon!

*If you have any further questions you’d like to have answered about #DBC50Summer, please put them in the comments, or DM me on Twitter! I’d love to chat with you about it!

*Edited to add answer to a terrific question asked via Twitter DM!

I want to follow along with your implementation plans. Are you going to share those throughout the year?

Yes! I plan to share the impacts of implementations as they come about throughout the year! There are some that I have already begun implementing and others that will come up much later in the year (I’ve got to pace myself, ha). It is currently my plan to blog about the projects & share pictures and any resources used, but I’m not sure if I will transition these blogs to #DBCBookBlogs or continue to use #DBC50Summer, or even use both. Either way, if you subscribe to the blog and/or follow me on Twitter, you’ll definitely be notified! I’m so excited to see how these books impact student learning, the culture, achievement, and enthusiasm in our school! It’s going to be an epic year!

Resources:

Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc

DaveBurgess.com

ShelleyBurgess.com

#DBC50Summer Implementation Plans: This Google Sheet shares the books, in order of release date, my implementation plan, link to my blog post for each book, the link to the flipgrid for each book, and has a place holder for sharing the impact of implementing as I fulfill each plan throughout the school year. This Sheet will remain live, so check back throughout the year for updates! You are welcome to make a copy of this sheet to create your own implementations for each book. As Dave says, “Inspiration without implementation is a waste.” What will you do with the information you gain from each DBC, Inc book?

DBC Books Database: This rudimentary Sheet was my worksheet as I verified book release dates with authors, as well as connected on Twitter and searched for their websites. Much of this information is now readily available on the updated Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc website under Where are the PIRATES linked here. The asterisk beside the release date means it hasn’t been verified, while the V means it was verified by the author to me personally, the blog of the author announcing release date, or a tweet from Dave or Shelley Burgess announcing official release date. This is also a live site, and will be updated as verification becomes available and new books and information are released.

Flipgrid for All DBC, Inc Books: This global collaborative space was the brainchild of the amazing Andrea Paulakovich! I referenced each topic in each of the #DBC50Summer posts, but wanted to share the entire grid in one space for ease of access. If the embedded grid isn’t available below, click the hyperlink to access the grid.

https://flipgrid.com/9a53ee?embed=true