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Who would benefit from reading this book and why?  I think any teacher in any part of their career would benefit from reading Heart! The content of the book focuses on the reality of the profession.  Timothy Kanold was so easy to relate to since teachers everywhere experience the same trials or successes daily.  I remember when I did the educational mission trip to Belize years ago and concerns that the teachers in Belize had were either the same or very similar to the concerns of many teachers in the Denver Area.  We all want the best for our students and that's what allows us to connect so well to others in the profession.
What are your big takeaways from this book?  There is so much, but I think the last chapter on Thought was my big take away.  I believe that school should be fun and engaging for each and every student.  Also, the content being taught needs to be relevant and meaningful.  It is just what we try to do here at LTE, and it was great to read it in black and white!
What is your plan to apply what has been learned to your practice? My plan is to reread my thoughts on each chapter and to focus on one chapter for a 2 week period or shorter if needed.  I think to take everything in at once and try to implement a new idea or mindset is too overwhelming and nothing will be accomplished.  So, I plan to reread the H reflections this upcoming Sunday, after our Thanksgiving Break, to focus on what I wrote with the goal of making some changes or solidifying any practices that I already might be doing..  I might need to reread my thoughts more than once during the two week time frame to keep myself accountable on what I said I would do.  I also want to encourage others to read the book. I feel that it will solidify why we went into this profession, but maybe even ignite someone's passion to be an even better teacher.

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What spoke to you? Actually a lot spoke to me with this chapter which focused on one's professional 'voice of wisdom' which only comes after years of classroom experience.  The author brought up areas of making each day count instead of counting the days, hiring colleagues using the Three C's - Character, Competence and Commitment, but the one sentence that really stuck out for me was "...the classroom should be a fun and engaging place for each and every student."  I couldn't agree more!  Now that I am teaching kindergarten, I strongly feel that if my classroom is not fun and engaging, well, I have a HUGE problem since kindergarten is a student's first year out of 12 and possibly 16 years in school.  My goal is to have my students WANT to come to school and learn.  I find learning exciting. One is never too old to learn.  The author also reiterated that "...textbooks cannot be the sole wisdom of authority." Textbooks should be a great resource, but thinking back to my first years of teaching - they were my guide, but as I gained experience and knowledge, they are used more as a resource.  Teachers can only get their 'voice of wisdom' through daily/yearly experience, but once we have it, the biggest beneficiaries are the students.
Will it work? It's a little difficult to answer this question regarding the chapter on Thought, since I feel that we currently have systems in place for less experienced teachers to learn from more experienced teachers in our building. We have numerous colleagues to use as resources. However, the bottom line is that in order to get one's 'thought/wisdom', you need to experience what works or doesn't work first hand. It is important to have a supportive administration to help develop a teacher's 'thought/wisdom', because anyone's best laid out plans can bomb. It's just part of our profession. We are very blessed at LTE to have such a supportive administration to help us all find our 'wisdom/thought.'

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What spoke to you? The whole chapter on Risk spoke to me but this line in particular grabbed my attention. "...trust is essential to effective risk-taking with your colleagues." p. 179 .At times, it can be difficult to be open and honest with our coworkers, but without an open relationship, people remain stagnant, secluded and can become defensive with their ideas.  I've been on teams where there has been ample trust with everyone's voice heard as teaching strategies are discussed as to what worked and what didn't go as well as planned for a lesson.  On the other hand, I've been on teams where very little discussion was held, and it just seemed like everything was "going as planned" so there was very little need for discussion. In fact, there NEEDED to be a lot of discussion!  The latter scenario is no fun.  I felt like I didn't grow since there was nothing pushing me to grow. The years I have grown the most was when I had colleagues to converse with and bounce ideas off of, and we all shared the same vision for our students.  We trusted each other. Without trust between colleagues there is very little desire to take risks to challenge the mindset, "that's just how we do it here."
Will it work? Risk-taking is encouraged here at LTE and I do believe that we have the trust needed amongst colleagues to try to take those risks.  In fact, this year I decided to add Purposeful Play in my classroom after learning about it at the District's Explore, Learn, Collaborate Conference.  I have spent the past 3 months creating a restaurant with my kindergarten students with guidance from District personnel.  We have everything in place and my students know what to do, but will they do it?  Who knows?  But at least they have an understanding of the purpose behind their play. Now only time will tell.
How could it work? I think any risk-taking strategies can work as long as the shared goal is communicated to students and the teaching strategies are designed to engage students so they learn and perform to their highest potential.  Is it easy?  NO!  Sometimes when I implement something new, it's absolutely CRAZY in my class, but when I refocus and look at the classroom in an objective manner, I tend to see more student engagement in the content being learned.

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What spoke to you? I especially enjoyed reading the last chapter in the Alliance section where the author focuses on sharing good stories on how teams overcame challenges and how everyone came out a winner.  I also liked how he took some time to write notes to colleagues that were sincere and shared the impact they had on some teachers over the years..  I need to do that more often - celebrate the day to day efforts of students, staff, friends, family that go above and beyond expectational norms.  What I also found interesting is that I have always been in a school culture where collaboration amongst colleagues was expected.  Yet, the author mentions many times that it is not always the case and I've been teaching 23 years this year!  I cannot think of a reason WHY someone would not want to communicate and collaborate ideas with a colleague.  I do feel that my best teaching has been a result of collaboration.
Will it work?  Building Alliances does work since we do it very well at LTE.  My move to kindergarten last year surprised me on how isolated I could feel from the rest of the staff since the kindergarten rooms are set up in a way where you don't have to travel through other grade level pods to get from one point to another in the school.  We have easy access to the office, work room due to our centralized location.  However, almost felt disconnected with the other grade levels.   I found  that I needed to make more of an effort to visit with other grade levels to feel more connected again..  I think the LTE culture promotes alliance building and we do a good job building community.  Without alliances, teaching would be a very lonely career.  We need adult interactions to help us feel more connected and valued.

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What spoke to you? Engagement in our work as teachers is so critical. Engagement sets the tone for the learning process and only 30% of teachers in 2015 were actively engaged and committed to their work. That's a sad reality for a profession that has such an impact on our future generation, and that was in 2015 - before all the national attention to the lack of funding for education. I seriously wonder what percentage of engaged teachers are currently teaching in our country? Another area that spoke to me is to allow yourself to "turn off" the teacher task list and get the rest needed. We need to take care of ourselves to become the best version of ourselves as an educator.

Will it work? -  I liked how the author picked a trusted colleague who could point out if he was drifting to a negative/low energy place as a teacher.  Having a colleague as a confidant can help alleviate those days/weeks when coming to work can feel like "drudgery".  I would like to seek out a colleague to help me become the "best version of myself" as a teacher.  Funny, I am currently reading a book to live everyday choosing the "best right thing at that moment" to become the best version of yourself in my faith and here I was reading a similar concept in this book for my profession.  Personally, I think if you become the best version of yourself, you will be fully engaged in life - family, work, friends, religion, etc.  That is my personal goal.

How could it work? - Create ideas for implementation on a personal or school-wide basis  All interested staff could be invited to attend morning meetings, ie. at 7:15 to 7:55 as time to debrief and talk about what is going on with them personally/professionally and if they believe they are highly engaged or feel like they might be drifting toward a negative state.  Partners would need to be open and honest with each other.  Certified and non-certified staff are faced with difficult situations on a daily basis and being there as a support for each other would also promote a more caring/positive school climate which will infiltrate our school community and  trickle down to students..

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What spoke to you? "Great teaching is always a form of love" - that's what spoke to me. Every day I plan is (usually) well thought out and intentional. I work hard because I feel that my students deserve my personal best. "...work in a row and pass the bags along" is a phrase from the poem, "To Be of Use", which spoke to me about working as a collaborative team. The phrase pinpointed that we need each other to succeed. As a teacher, you spend the majority of your time in a classroom with young people, but it is one's adult colleagues that are so impactful in both positive and negative ways as brought out by the author. Reading about Mary, a colleague of the author's, was very moving - her demeanor as a teacher, colleague and friend. I especially liked when Timothy Kanold wrote "Take a moment. Think way ahead. Remember too, that like Mary, sometimes we do not always get to name our final school season. That is why making sure this current school season of your life matters and is so important." I need to reread that small paragraph when I feel frustrated and overwhelmed. It will certainly put life in perspective.

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I picked this book because I was looking for something that would add more to my teaching career based on the "human aspect" of our job.  What are you hoping to gain by reading it? I hope to gain a better perspective as to where I am as an educator, on the more personal side of our job, since being a teacher is so all-consuming.  I think I"m at a point in my career where I need to figure out where to go from here.  Do I continue teaching? For how much longer and where?  Is it what I am supposed to be doing?  Not sure, but hope the book will add some clarity so I can go forward and be satisfied with all decisions going forward.

How does it connect to how you want to grow as a professional? I want to gain more confidence in myself as an educator and to help mentor fellow educators since we all go into the profession thinking we are going to be so impactful, but find that teaching is SO hard and draining and sometimes we really don't know WHY we chose this path?  Also, I want to encourage young adults to go into the teaching profession and mean it. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the negative aspects instead of focusing on the positive ones.