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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

A Nerdy Reflection on 2013

I generally am not a fan of "Year in Review" posts or articles, but I felt that this year has been really special for me and this is the space I use to share my thoughts, so here it goes.

The thing that stands out to me most in 2013 are my friends. Everything I've done has been, in part, because of the support of my friends. I was recognized in my state as the Tech Teacher of the Year (MACUL) and by ISTE as the Teacher of the Year. These are awards that are still shocking to me because I know so many great educators that are also deserving of recognition. These honors are because I have been lucky enough to surround myself with people that support my crazy ideas and have told me where I need to make changes. Awards are never about success on an individual level. We all get to where we are with a little help from our friends.

I travelled more than any other year in 2013 working to spread edtech awesomeness to others. Part of that was giving a Keynote with my buddy +Timothy Gwynn. I travelled to San Francisco, Indiana (twice) and many parts in between. I was able to meet so many great educators face to face and learn what they are doing in their classroom and take parts of that and add it to my tool belt. While I was brought it to impart to teachers and admins they things they can do to add tech as part of their classroom lives, I always left with new ideas that got me excited.

I also travelled the country on a road trip with +Timothy Gwynn. We drove from Indiana to San Francisco and had some amazing conversations with dedicated educators. Thank you to everyone that came out and shared your thoughts with me. I learned so much about education around the country and know there is so much more to learn. I hope I have a chance to do this type of trip again and share with everyone what I learned.

I will be writing a book for Corwin publishing. It will be about Cloud Computing and the different tools out there that allow students and educators to work in the cloud. This is my first book with a publisher and I'm excited/nervous about the process. I know my friends will be there to support me along the way.

The #EduBroAwards were another great success and we can't wait to hastily through together the best awards show in education in 2014.

The one thing I can promise to bring back for 2014 is #NerdyCast. I was shocked to see #NerdyCast still on lists for top ed podcasts. I haven't done a NerdyCast since December 2012 and the BAM! was just a disaster. As busy as I have been this year, it is the one thing I missed most and it has to do with the fact that I get to talk with friends. #NerdyCast will be something I aim to do once a month and I just need to get Tim on board as my co-host and we will have the best ed show on the interwebs. Tweet him and tell him he needs to do it.

I hope everyone has a great and safe New Year's Even and Day. Thanks for all of the support you have given me and my crazy ideas. I hope to keep you entertained for 2014.

Lesson for 2013: I'm nothing without the support and love of my friends and family. Thanks Jen, Leo and my PLN. 

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad to read about the potential return of NerdyCast. I'm sending Tim a nudging tweet now.

    ReplyDelete

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