On the edge of an educational cliff
Updated: Feb 2, 2020
Last week I was not the usually confident educator steering my students through cyberspace. Instead, my time was spent on the edge of rooms at the #ProjectVoice conference held in Chattanooga, Tennessee. At first, I merely lurked quietly. The sense of being on the verge of changing the world as humans currently interact with it was palatable. Every room was filled with experts that will soon be Wikipedia entries sharing hits, misses, and predictions for the not so far off future.
I learned how close we are to Steve Jobs' vision he shared in 1987. Mr. Jobs was an extraordinary visionary with a keen sense of what can be done for humanity. I learned of data collection and what could be extrapolated from that data. I also learned how naively unaware of what can be learned from a few data points. I went home every night exhausted as if I had run a concession stand during field day solely by myself.
Was this foray into this unfamiliar realm good for me as an educator? Unequivocally yes! Outside of my comfort zone, I learned vast amounts of information that I will apply in the upcoming weeks. I now have new goals for my students and myself for 2020. It was incredibly refreshing to meet professionals who wanted my input in the conversations. I am still processing what I have learned. Never before have I attended a conference in which I was bombarded with new information like a toddler at an unfamiliar location. Usually, I work hard to eke out some tidbit of new information to validate my missing time from my students. Not this time. Thank you #ProjectVoice for allowing me to attend this conference. I am forever changed and therefore my students are forever changed.
The dive off the educational cliff begins tomorrow when I return to the classroom!
