I view my first year as a connected educator as slowly
walking up a set of garden steps. You know, the steps you can easily climb at
your own pace, allowing you to observe and interact with your surroundings as
you move forward. By taking my time I became used to, explored and learned from
the blogs I read and wrote, and the PLN I formed. I wrote a total of 28 posts,
have 300 followers on twitter, and contributed 880 tweets. I surpassed my goal
of publishing one blog a month. I did sit down and rest on those steps many
times, looking around trying to absorb the environment, seeking guidance and
contemplating what to do next. I participated in interactive leadership forums,
numerous #chats, asked questions, shared resources, and experimented with
social bookmarking, different readers, and brought my thoughts and discoveries
directly to those I work with. I did not necessarily take any alternative
routes, and wish I could have encouraged more of my colleagues to accompany me
up those steps, but I certainly did admire the diversity of the flowers as I
climbed, and from time to time picked a flower to share or planted a seed to
nurture throughout my journey. So as I enter my second year as a connected
educator I plan on exerting myself a bit more. I imagine myself walking up the
steep steps of a Mayan pyramid. Acknowledging
the architectural and organizational wisdom of the Mayans I will begin the
journey planning and organizing in order to facilitate the journey. I will add
some structure to my blog(s), better use and organize the features of Feedly,
expand and adapt my readership, add Pinterest to my repertoire, establish a
mechanism to learn from my “favorites,” and create a schedule of professional
learning through many educational chat sessions. The important thing is that I
feel ready to push myself as I make my way up the top of the pyramid. I can now
only imagine the experiences I will endure, the ideas I will contemplate, and
what the final view will be when I reach the top! I look forward to sharing my
view and learning with you all throughout this journey.
