I Am Hitting Reset And Selecting A New Game

GAME RESET
One of my favorite things about being a teacher has always been the ability to hit the RESET BUTTON. With the beginning of every school year, there is the new promise and potential of what lies ahead. With the beginning of the 2018-2019 academic year, I am hitting the reset button on this website and on many aspects of my life. Today is a #BrandNewDay
Allow me just a moment to update you and let you know what is changing. 

GAME SELECT
Since I first encountered E. Paul Torrance's The Manifesto, I have been a huge fan. The results of this longitudinal study have always been the type of advice that I wish that I had known at a much younger age. At various junctures in my life, I have often reflected on The Manifesto and look to it for some insight into my current and future situations. As a teacher of the gifted, I kept a copy of this posted in the classroom and would refer my students to it as they faced challenges. It never seemed to fail to add just the right piece of advice at just the right time. 

As I read over the list, the one that currently stands out to me as most appropriate is #3. Learn to free yourself from the expectations of others and to walk away from the games that they impose on you. Free yourself to play your own game. 

With that in mind, I am choosing to hit the GAME SELECT button to play a brand new game. 

After ten years at East Carolina University, I made the decision to walk away from my tenure track position as an Associate Professor. I felt that I was no longer appreciated for the work that I was doing, and I was being asked to do a lot of things that I really did not want to spend time doing. I also was offered and turned down a position at NAGC as the Director of Professional Learning because I came to the realization that I would always be working to meet the expectations of others and that there would no doubt be a great deal of games that would be imposed upon me. I can honestly say it has been a liberating experience. 

Now I am free to create my own game. So, what does the future hold for Brian? 

Here are some of the NEW GAMES that I am creating for myself to play. 

INSIDE BRIAN'S BRAIN
I am devoting a good portion of my work time to creating content and posting on this website. I have a rather ambitious plan to create 51 posts (in honor of Alexander Hamilton's contribution to the Federalist Papers) by NAGC in November. Along the way I will be posting lesson ideas, creativity activities, curiosity prompts, tech tool resources, and activities from Fighting Fake News! and Using the Schoolwide Enrichment Model with Technology. There will be a strong focus on working with gifted students and the meaningful integration of technology. 

SPEAKING
Since I no longer have a full time faculty position, I will be able to devote even more time to speaking at conferences and consulting. I already have a very full fall schedule with events in Iowa, North Carolina, Arizona, West Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, California, Utah, Maine, Minnesota, and New Jersey. I am looking for schools, districts, and conferences for 2019. 

UNCW
I recently accepted a part-time position as the Gifted Program Coordinator at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. This will allow me to teach some gifted courses and to maintain a university connection. I am excited to be taking over for Angela Housand who has been promoted to the position of Associate Dean of the Watson College of Education at UNCW. 

GIFTED GUILD
One of the things that I am most excited about is a new collaboration with my great friends, Ian Byrd and Lisa Van Gemert. I will be coming on board with the Gifted Guild. We are working on something that is pretty exciting for teachers of the gifted. We are not ready just yet to share the news. So stay tuned! It won't be much longer. 

Thanks for reading!
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow! 

​Brian 

#BrandNewDay
#JustYouWait