#NOTATISTE15

For the second year in a row I've had the privilege to be a part of a great group. The #NOTATISTE group. Thanks to Jennifer Wagner, we are using Google+ in a fun, but educational way. This is taking professional development to a whole new level. For educators, making the changes to PD is important. It keeps us on our toes and interested in what is going to happen next not only for us, but most importantly for our students.

I'm not saying other forms of PD are ineffective, because they are highly effective for those types of learners. I've been to some awesome PD that was just someone presenting on a topic or a piece of technology. (Thanks to my amazing school district.) But there are other types of learners out there, even us educators we have different learning styles. We want to work with our students on a daily, sometimes hourly basis, and make sure we're providing opportunities for those students with different learning styles to master skills and content. The same goes for educators. Not all of us learn the same way and having so many different learning opportunities out there is beneficial.

Depending on the topic being presented I can handle sitting through a regular formatted professional development session, but I'm one that loves to try things out. I need to try it out, learn on my own. I'm also one that likes to explore on my own and bet my feelers out there. There have been times, early on in my career, where I have been overwhelmed by professional development. Now that PD has developed to be more self-driven, and self-paced, I find it easier to find new tools and ideas.

Thanks to the #NOTATISTE group I've been able to explore a conference I've been unable to attend. Technology is still a huge piece of education and it's constantly growing as the world changes. As a Media Specialist on my campus I want to stay up to date with the new tools, apps, ideas, and fun that is out there for teachers and students to use. With the help of this group I've greatly spread my PLN! I can't tell you how many people I have connected with through this group between last summer and this summer. It's amazing!

If anyone DOESN'T get to go to ISTE, it may be one of the coolest things that happens to you. Why? Because the second best thing is out there for you to participate in, for FREE! Joining the #NOTATISTE group on Google+ is something worth participating in, in the future. It really allows you some freedom, allows you to learn, and it all happens from the comfort of home.

The Beginning of a Journey

I've been toying with the idea of writing a blog for some time now. Even as I sit here and write this post I wonder if this is the best idea. Are people going to be reading this? Is this coming off silly or irrelevant? I want this to be an outlet for me as an educator to share my experiences and ideas with other educators out there.

I see so many educators blogging and they have wonderful blogs. I see them as celebrities of the education world. I wish to be like them. I think to myself, "If only I can come up with creative things to say like they do," or "Wow, that was a great idea. Why didn't I think of that?" I'm hoping one day I'll get to that status of sharing some great ideas with educators around the world.

I'm hoping this is a journey to something great. But most of all, I hope this is a journey of self-reflection. Yes, I want to share my thoughts and ideas with other educators in the world, but I feel like this can do so much more. This is for me to self-reflect on my profession, on my practices, my strategies, my ideas, my expectations, and everything else that I do.

So, here's to the start of a great journey!