After wading through many of the adventures taken, my eyes are more clearly able to see and now refining questions can be asked and secondary decisions made to continue to chart the course moving forward. It's the time for pause which is not something I'm really good at.

Technology, gaming and all the new things happening in the world are great opportunities for us all to grow. We can't worry about being bad at something, we need to keep trying and practicing. That's how we grow. What new things will you try in the new year to meet your students or children where they are?

From the #1st5days to Harry Potter, this year marked a journey that I'm luck to have endured. Review the year in posts and share your experiences from the year about any or all of the topics shared.

Great partnerships can really benefit students. What is the best part of your co-teaching partnership? What do you struggle most with? Please share

Students need to know what is being assessed, so they can name and understand what they are learning and more importantly why. In this way they can start to connect their learning to real skills that will be of use to them in the future.

Setbacks happen and that's okay, as long as I don't become mired in them. Change did happen in 2016... an actual metamorphosis of my teaching career as I've moved into the hybrid role of teacher and coach and I have no doubt that 2017 will continue that growth.

Twitter Moments can be a very powerful curation tool if you are using the social media outlet with staff for professional learning or with students as a backchannel.

As we all struggle to stay engaged in the next week or so, we need to be especially kind to each other. It's easier to be nice than it is to be grumpy and although that is where we may be (which is okay), a smile from a student, colleague or peer can go a long way. So why not be the smile. Say the kind words. Recognize aloud the things you notice and see if you can be the person who makes someone's day, every day.

Every child knows how to like something, but they don't always know how to make it applicable to learning. Sometimes they don't see the connections and that's where we have to help. The more transparent we can make the learning process, the better students will be able to choose when you ask them "What do you want to learn?"

While providing feedback for my students today, I entered an email address as I often do in the commenting function using the + sign and this little box popped up that asked me if I wanted to assign it to the student as a task.