One of the things the superintendent of the school district where I work asks the principals and cabinet members to do is come up with a list of five things they did during the week. This process facilitates reflective practice and provides space for celebration of accomplishments.

This isn’t necessarily bookish for me, even though I’m posting it here. For me, this is a reminder that I do, in fact, do things. Sometimes I feel like my life is pretty one-note, and I don’t want to continue down that path. This is how I get stuck in the process and lose productivity. I don’t know how long I’ll do this, but I figured that, for me, it’s a start.

Here are my five for this week.

1. This week we had to take the cats to the vet (this is actually part of what we need to do for our home study). We managed to get the one who is skittish into the crate with minor injuries sustained to my finger.
2. On Tuesday, the Math Content Specialist and I presented the work we’ve been doing to the principals in our school district. This was incredibly anxiety-provoking. I told one of the principals that I’d become accustomed to presenting to teachers and students, but presenting to principals with the superintendent in the room? That was tough. Ultimately, it was good, though. We have already had a number of principals reach out to us to talk to their staffs about how we can help them make the change we’re trying to make.
3. I’ve reorganized myself so that I was more productive when it came to the time I spent in the library this week. I’ve been working on my Ph.D. for a long time. Part of the reason is that I was teaching full time. Then things came up at work that elongated the process. Then I had to change my dissertation topic. I’m getting closer to the end and I have amazing supports that encourage me. I think I needed that encouragement (and a bit of fire under my ass) to motivate me to reorganize and get moving.
4. A few days ago, I texted a friend I haven’t talked to since March. I have phone anxiety. If I’m not trying to communicate with a family member or someone I see all the time, I have a hard time reaching out because I don’t want to be a bother. After I texted her, we talked on the phone for a bit and it was good. I miss her face, but it sounds like she’s in a really good place. Can’t complain with that.
5. Because of #diversifybookstagram, I had the opportunity to follow a bunch of other diverse bookstagrammers. I’m always down for building my reading community around people who are diverse and read diversely. They are my people.

What have you accomplished this week?