#DitchSummit with J. Matt Miller. I actually met him in person, fan girling at #ISTE '18 or '19, I think! I met so many techie celebs that I grinned from ear to ear walking my 13 thousand daily steps around Philadelphia's Convention Center and downtown area! Big smiles for Flipgrid - I saw at least four green tents on the demo floor, and this rectangular screen where people were sharing mini videos of themselves and how their students' voices were being heard. Now, you can see my picture in the Discovery Library when you go to the page. I'm listed as an Inspiring Creator! I signed up to volunteer at the #ISTE conference and met the magic of the edu podcast for pre-service teachers with Dr. Samantha Fecich. We sat and talked for a bit at my little booth as she charged her phone to get to the next session. Then, there was #PassTheScopeEDU, a podcast crew out of Texas led by Brian Romero Smith. He was already someone I followed on Twitter. I bumped into him walking down one of the many corridors at the mega fest, and told him I was interested in blogging; and then he invited me on his show! Man, I was walking into the light the entire conference! Anyway, let me come back to my original train of thought - Ditch Summit from the author of Ditch That Textbook.
The very first session I watched was with a Spanish teacher, an award winner, a blogger, and just someone I related to instantly. A lot of times when I attend conferences, the connecting piece is technology integration; but to find another world language teacher with influence is always exciting. He had my attention at hello. He said (he'd heard from someone else year's ago), "Don't get ready, get started." I think that was even the name of the session - from 2004! The title jumped out at me. Not only was it catchy, the words were talking to me: Don't get ready. Get started. To me, it meant asking myself, how long before you launch? Go ahead and jump in. But if you know me, you'd realize that I was born a jumper. Not quite sure if it has anything to do with my enneagram (I'm a three with traits of a four); and I'm an Aries (we tend to be bull-headed leaders who go forth without seeing the full picture). The don't-get-ready part was already out the window because I lept last year! I finally started the blog. My work instagram page was already a networking factor. I began building in a new-to-me tool called Canva. My bullet journaling was coming along and helping me map out my time with intentionality; and I was creating more conference content to share globally. I'd already gotten started, but I still soaked up his words.
Now, some virtual conferences later that I've shared at, I'll be presenting for the first time at Orange County Computer Using Educators Magical Mystery Fest Saturday, January 30. My presentation is about one of the engagement strategies I love creating - digital escape rooms with #MicrosoftEDU. And now, I've upped the ante and included digital escape scenes to my repertoire. I've seen the rave on YouTube with all my #GoogleEDU peeps and had to give it a go with the tools which I have access within the Microsoft platform - PowerPoint, OneNote notebook, Forms.
My friend told me, "Practice makes better" not perfect. All great things take time. The more time you put into your practice, the better the outcome. I am sharing as I go all the time that is spent on this blog, in my classroom, in building relationships, my brand. And I am READY to reap the benefits of all the time spent in practice. Have you started, and are you ready?
Terri Savelle Foy heard from the Lord years ago, "When I know you're ready, get ready." My motivational scripture to accompany my #oneword2021 is Genesis 27:40. The paraphrased version and interpreted revelation to me is, when you decide to move, nothing and no one will stop you!
#notjustaclassroom
