I have to admit that I must have been feeling overly zealous to sign up for every session of Ed Week. I had no idea what it was, really. My mom and dad weren't surprised--I think they truly believe that I'm the best teacher in the whole, wide world and I can tolerate their gushing over me from time to time. What I really didn't expect, was the skepticism I would get from the people surrounding me:
Maybe I haven't done a good enough job of explaining to my doubting friends and family the passionate beliefs and deep responsibility I feel as an educator, but those are the feelings that led me to sign up for all five days, even if I was questioning my decision to do so as this week approached.
I'm happy to announce that Ed Week 2012 did not disappoint. I believe @nashworld said something to the effect of, "I've never been so overwhelmed and so refreshed at the same time." Those words could not ring truer for me. My brain is on overload as I think through all the things I've learned this week and how I can best implement this learning in my classroom. This was far from the waste of time my skeptics thought it would be. I heard some astounding teachers this week. (Do you think there's any chance I could convince some of them to join our district so my children can benefit from their awesomeness? A girl can dream, right?)
Monday with Troy Hicks got me excited about all of the ways I could use GoogleDocs with my students. On Tuesday, Silvia Tolisano challenged us to "amplify" our teaching with technology. Darren Kuropatwa joined us midweek and really challenged me to move the work my students were doing beyond "good enough." The next day brought Dean Shareski, who reminded us that it's okay to let our students play while they're learning.To wrap up the week, we were blessed to have Diana Laufenberg. I'm sure a conversation I had with her today was the first time I've been moved to tears during professional development. Her passion for teaching and growing her students was evident and will resonate with me for a long time. The only way the week could have been better came when I found out I, little ol' me, get to go to the Midwest Education Technology Conference!
Thanks, SJSD, for making this week so meaningful. So, who's on the docket for next year?
- My husband, who's not an educator, questioned whether I was getting paid for this endeavor. (You'd think he would know better by now.)
- A friend inquired with, "You're doing this during the summer?!?" Teachers are, after all, supposed to spend the summer sleeping in and eating BonBons, right?
- Another family member said something to the tune of, "You're crazy! My boss is not getting anything out of me during my vacation!"
Maybe I haven't done a good enough job of explaining to my doubting friends and family the passionate beliefs and deep responsibility I feel as an educator, but those are the feelings that led me to sign up for all five days, even if I was questioning my decision to do so as this week approached.
I'm happy to announce that Ed Week 2012 did not disappoint. I believe @nashworld said something to the effect of, "I've never been so overwhelmed and so refreshed at the same time." Those words could not ring truer for me. My brain is on overload as I think through all the things I've learned this week and how I can best implement this learning in my classroom. This was far from the waste of time my skeptics thought it would be. I heard some astounding teachers this week. (Do you think there's any chance I could convince some of them to join our district so my children can benefit from their awesomeness? A girl can dream, right?)
Monday with Troy Hicks got me excited about all of the ways I could use GoogleDocs with my students. On Tuesday, Silvia Tolisano challenged us to "amplify" our teaching with technology. Darren Kuropatwa joined us midweek and really challenged me to move the work my students were doing beyond "good enough." The next day brought Dean Shareski, who reminded us that it's okay to let our students play while they're learning.To wrap up the week, we were blessed to have Diana Laufenberg. I'm sure a conversation I had with her today was the first time I've been moved to tears during professional development. Her passion for teaching and growing her students was evident and will resonate with me for a long time. The only way the week could have been better came when I found out I, little ol' me, get to go to the Midwest Education Technology Conference!
Thanks, SJSD, for making this week so meaningful. So, who's on the docket for next year?