Painting & Prepping

This is the bedroom that will be for my mom when she moves to Texas.

I've always hated painting.  Not the kind the you do in Art class; the kind that requires one to buy supplies, tape, cover, mix, edge, and cut in.  It's not so much the paint on a brush moving up and down covering walls.  It's the prepping.  I hate edging.  I just don't have a steady hand, and I want it to be finished quickly.  I want the finished product, but I have trouble getting through the prep.  

I have spent the past few weeks doing A LOT of painting in preparation for a House ReWarming party.  (My former tenant trashed my house.)  I've painted 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, the kitchen, and part of the dining room.  I still have to finish the laundry room and dining room.  Nonetheless, I am tired of painting.  While I was painting the bedroom in the picture above, I was taking greater care than usual.  I want it to be beautiful, without blemishes and mishaps.  It's going to be a bedroom for my mom when she visits and eventually when she moves to Texas.  But, that meant time prepping.  I had to patch holes, caulk, and remove the old blinds.  

Today, while having a painting marathon, I started making connections between the work we do with students and how it relates to painting.  There should be considerable time prepping before we are actually teaching, in front of students.  We have to do the hard work, the work that is not always fun, before we spend time with students.  This week, along with my Academic Specialist, we are going to be purposefully planning with our teachers.  We are going to be doing the hard work.  I have been prepping so I can be ready with ideas for our teachers.  My ideas are focused on our campus/district goals and strategies including Academic Conversations and Critical Thinking.  How can we interest our staff in using technology to improve their instruction to meet the needs of students? How can we help them move past using technology for Substitution and Augmentation and into Modification and Redefinition?  

I appreciate that my principal is so supportive in giving teachers time to plan.  She understands the need for prep.  I hope that our teachers will also see the value in the prep.  Maybe I need to bring them treats.