Connected Reflections

Connecting with others, at any level, is a basic human need and desire. It is most certainly no coincidence that when we involve our passions and interests, the need for connection grows and we seek out those bonds. In the digital age, we have the opportunity to interact, collaborate, and work with others around the corner, across the country, and in the far reaches of the world. At this point in my career, I have barely utilized this concept and for that I feel relatively behind the curve. I do have a preference for face-to-face interactions, however one cannot argue the ease and benefit of using social media to connect. Going forward, I will continue to use Facebook and Twitter to interact in face paced educational discussions. After discovering the webinar vault in my professional organization, I feel like the opportunities to discover more are limitless. Among the many assignments and experiences in this course, I do believe that the unconference model most certainly appeals to me. I believe that most people should have the forum to present but rarely find the avenue or motivation. This pushes them to find that platform and get others to join them on it. This class challenged me in that I typically don’t use my personal social media for educational purposes to I really had to think about how I brand, or rebrand, my profiles so they are suitable. This course added a new avenue to my teaching skills and for that, I will continue to implement this in my educational journey.

Conference vs. Unconference

As educators, I think we can all agree that scheduled conferences and professional development can be dreadful to a certain degree. We find ourselves having to sit through workshops that may or may not pertain to our interests. The idea of the unconference, particularly the Edcamp, is refreshing. We have the opportunity as professionals to dictate what is on the agenda. Our school had an advance Google Doc to develop these ideas so people could create unique workshops and participate in them. As a connected educator, I would hope to continue the face to face interaction but implement follow-up of any kind through a digital platform.

Conferences: And Where to Find Them

There are a wide number of ways in which people prefer to learn: auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and reading. Sometimes, each can be paired with another that is unique to the needs and interests of the learning. When it comes to professional development in the digital age, we no longer need to be confined to the calendar for when a PD arises, nor are we at the mercy of the school district as to whether or not we get approved to go in the first place. Virtual presentations and online conferences give educators from all over the world the opportunity to come together for that brief periods and learn together. They have the opportunity to make connections with each other based on the content of the presentation but take that and develop a professional relationship going forward. This truly benefits educators as they can side chat with others and create those bonds. Although I do prefer the face-to-face conference, I believe that I have learned so much from these online meetings that everyone should engage at some level.

Facebook: A Virtual Museum of Your Checkered Past

Facebook has had a truly unique impact on the world around us. It can be seen virtually everywhere in the physical and digital world. At this point, many of us have had one for years and have grown up with it. I myself have had one since I was a freshman in college. As we have grown up and become educators, Facebook stands as a living record of our past choices. In regards to the articles and our profession, I think one of the biggest things professionals should monitor is the content they are tagged in. From photos to videos, and posts to mislabels, these are easy to overlook. We most certainly are aware of our privacy settings on Facebook, but embarrassing tags could reside on a page with no privacy measures and can be fully accessible by others. The photos from college parties, ridiculous political views, and many more can just be waiting to be found. The timeline review has been helpful on that front to police what gets posted. For an educator, however, one must revisit their past in order to make sure it doesn’t weigh down their future.

Portfolios, Blog, and Growing through the Years

Well friends, it's been a long time but I'm back in the No Spin PE Zone. This time around, I'm learning some new and exciting things about collaboration and tools to connection with other educators. This blog was created over ten years ago at the dawn of my education journey and here I sit reflecting on my growth in that time. A blog and living portfolio such as this shows so much about growth. And I think it's very important we all take the time to reflect on our past as we continue to move forward.