A Little Reminder Goes a Long Way

It feels like I'm blogging a lot about my personal journey at work these days (as opposed to students/teachers), but that's where I'm at - and I know I'm not the only one who has ever dealt with a reorganization or job change!

My new role has been full of a lot of learning, which is GOOD. I love learning new things! At the same time, it can be hard on my confidence. Impostor Syndrome is a real thing, and I have found myself wondering how I can effectively support teachers whose jobs look very different than mine looked when I was teaching.

It's with this mix of overwhelmed learning + "Am I really the right person for this?" that I approached the Colorado EdTechTeam Summit this year.

The day started off with a good reminder from keynote speaker Rushton Hurley

"The only person to whom you ever need to compare yourself is the you who you were yesterday."

Are you looking in the mirror to compare, or looking out the window at everyone else?

After that, I had the opportunity to present on fun stuff: GSuite in the Arts, Spreadsheet AutoMagic, and some Google Experiment play at the playground. It reminded me (as always) that I really enjoy presenting! All of those little moments - the exclamations of "Oh, that's awesome!", "I am doing this with my kids on Monday!", and "That's so cool!" - filled my bucket. I always appreciate positive feedback (who doesn't?), but even more this year when I have felt like such a novice in my day-to-day job.

I think God knew I needed this reminder - despite all of the new, I still have strengths to bring to the table. I have a renewed sense of efficacy in being able to serve and help teachers & students. I have so much to learn, but I also have some good background to draw on.

Passing It On

Which, of course brings me to students. How often do we focus on their weaknesses, instead of their strengths? Do we recognize the background that they bring to the table as a source of learning? Do we make them feel like they are a beginner at everything, or do we value and build on their prior knowledge? These questions are especially relevant for our students who come with different cultural backgrounds that we do.

A little reminder goes a long way. Which student needs a little reminder from you today?

Summit Summary - Colorado Springs 2018

Once again, I find myself sitting down to write a summary after a wonderful #EdTechTeam summit experience! Check out previous blog posts here:
Colorado 2016 | The first Ed Tech conference I ever attended!
Colorado 2017 | My first time presenting - thoughts from before, during, & after
Aspen 2018 | Continuing to learn and grow as a learner and a presenter

Each time I attend, I struggle to summarize my experience, so here are some big themes:

I love reflecting on my own growth as a presenter.

One of the best parts of this summit was presenting with my brother :-). I love that we are both in education, and it is so cool to be able to collaborate on things like this! His attendance at the 2015 Colorado Summit is what sparked my interest in attending & getting into ed tech in general, and look at where that's ended up! I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to share this experience with family and initiate my bro into the world of leading PD at the same time (and I have to say, he is awesome)!

Biggest personal win: I was much more confident and not as nervous as I have been in the past! That's not to say that there were no nerves, but I am growing more comfortable with it all. I even tried two new sessions this summit, and felt pretty good about them (which isn't always the case - I'm my own worst critic at times). I was able to enjoy myself not only during the presentations, but also before and after, because I wasn't worrying as much about everything.

I always learn new things.

No matter how many professional development events I go to, I always learn something new. I learn new ways to use tools, I learn hacks I hadn't known about previously, I learn about the new tools on the market, and I learn how to be a better presenter by watching those around me. And, as I overheard somebody say before we started the second morning, this is good professional development! It includes choice for the participants, isn't just "sit-n-get", and it is about relevant topics. As a person who leads a lot of PD, I appreciate the times when I am able to be a learner.

In the end, it always comes back to the people.

This is not a new revelation for me, but it comes back every time. I was excited to meet some PLN friends face-to-face for the first time, and make new friends F2F that are now a part of my PLN! You know when you find "your people", and it just clicks? I felt that way these past couple of days. I appreciate the positivity, the energy, and also the honesty of those who attended. We are not trying to brush over the hardships, but we are all there because we truly care, and we want to make education better for every single kid.

I also have to give special shoutouts to my old/new friend Lisa who took the time to chat with me and give me amazing advice during lunch one day, to Pam for initiating a Twitter DM conversation a few days before the event so it felt like we were old friends by the time we finally met, and to Jess for continually encouraging me and nudging me out of my comfort zone. That is not an exhaustive list, but it's these personal interactions that I remember the most, and they make the conference for me!

What's next?

Well, I'm not sure, but I'm excited to continue presenting, learning, and forming relationships wherever I go! And, of course, I can't let this opportunity go by without putting in a plug for the next #EdTechTeam Colorado Summit, coming in November! I hope to see many of you there!

#ISTE18: It's All About the Relationships!

This year, I was so excited to go to my first ISTE conference! After stalking the #notatISTE hashtag for a few years, it was amazing to finally be there!

I thought about writing a recap, but a picture tells a thousand words, so I'd rather just share my sketchnote of the conference. Each little sketch represents a memory of my time in Chicago! Looking back, I notice a lot of food on here...yep, food = good memories...maybe a little too much ;-).

As I look back, the thing that I will remember the most is all of the friendships & relationships. I loved sitting down next to new people (or, more accurately, standing in line) and being able to strike up a conversation, because we were all connected by our love of education! Even more meaningful were the people I got to have more in-depth conversations with, because this isn't the first time we've connected. From my amazing teammates to the Breakout EDU crew to #sunchatbloggers to other people I've connected with online, it filled my heart to spend time with so many amazing people!

My mind and heart are full. Thank you, #ISTE18!

#GoogleEI: Taking a Risk

The Journey Begins...

It was almost two years ago when I first heard about Google's Certified Innovator (#GoogleEI) program. Honestly, it sounded cool, but way above me. It's only for super amazing, connected, world-changing educators, right? I couldn't envision myself ever being in a place where I would be "good enough" to take part.

Over the course of time, my perspective started to change. I saw many friends get into the program, and their excitement was infectious! I finally came around to deciding that I might like to apply, but I was in grad school and drowning in the amount of work I had to do each weekend. I had to remind myself that when I said "yes" to grad school, I knew I was saying "no" to other things for a short period of time, so I could just get through. After I finished my degree, though, all of my excuses were gone, and it was time for me to find the courage to take that step and apply.

I waited impatiently for the next English cohort to be announced, and was excited to hear about #LAX18!

Application & Reflection

I truly meant it when I tweeted that the application was a learning & growing process. Whether I get in or not, the application itself is worth it because of the way it's made me reflect, think big, connect with others, and truly understand the nature of the "problem" I posed. In education, it is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and lose sight of the big picture. This brought the big picture into much clearer focus, and gave me a reason to spend lots of time thinking about it. I loved it! The application also challenged my creativity & out-of-the-box thinking.

While I knew I wanted to apply, I was having trouble feeling inspired about what I had to offer until I attended the Aspen EdTechTeam Summit. The way that weekend pulled me out of a rut and got me inspired made me hungry for more professional development around innovative, visionary educators!

I have to give a huge shout-out and thank you to all of my friends who helped me with my application: @MsVenturino, @meagan_e_kelly, @JLenore24, @btcostello05, & @namcmurtry Your feedback helped make it better, and your encouragement kept me going!

The Video

You might be thinking, "Come on, show me the video already!" The application has both a written portion and a video, and the video definitely took the most time. Everything within me wants to give some kind of disclaimer here about the million things I wish were better, but truly, I am happy with what I created.

What now?

Well, first up is a long ten days of waiting! That's actually a very quick turnaround time, but it feels like forever when you are on the other end! If I get in, I will be super excited for a visit to Venice in July! If I don't get in, I will probably tweak my application for the next round. Here's to hoping!

If you have thought about applying...do it. #JustPushSubmit. It's scary, it's challenging, it's hard work, but it's also very rewarding. That makes it worth it! And if you ever want someone to look over your application to give you feedback...feel free to reach out!