My Reform Symposium Reflection

As I write today...an Elluminate session is running in the background from yesterday's Reform Symposium which I hated that I had to miss.  However, I'm honing my multi-tasking skills watching it in one part of my screen while I reflect on how much the Reform Symposium has got me thinking, interacting, and made me more hopeful for my first year.

Before this weekend I had lots of ideas, but no clear cut plan on how I was going to establish the culture of my new technology classroom.  I also had about a million questions buzzing around in my head that I've been afraid to ask my mentors and other teachers...only because I feel like that's all I do!  Now though, I have a network of people who are more than happy to help whenever I have a question.

The Reform Symposium was amazing to me.  Being able to sit in my living room at my desk and talk to experts from all around the world....insane.  It also did something else for me.  It gave me a drive to continue to do better, strive to help others do better, and improve my knowledge.  I'm a very restless person...if you read earlier you know that deciding what I wanted to do with my life was very difficult, basically because it felt like a permanent decision with most majors, and I hated that.

Even now, I haven't even begun to teach, but I already had the feeling of being trapped in a job or place for longer than I wanted.  I know that I want to get my Master's, I want to go travel to lots of other places, I want to teach and work at a university....but I had to accept the fact that I might have to stay in my small town and accept a daily/weekly routine for a few years.

This weekend has given me a refreshing breath of air to help me remember that there are so many things that I can do with my future.  Technology is also ever changing, so just because I have a plan for my students for the first 6 weeks, doesn't mean that the next 6 won't be completely different when technology changes.  And I have a feeling that whenever I start to feel restless and trapped...I'll be able to go out to my PLN, take a deep breath, and check out all the wonderful 140 character "inspirational messages" to get me back on track.