Long Overdue Post

I went searching for my blogs today, thinking about how I need to improve upon my reflection skills. It's not that I don't reflect or I'm not capable of reflecting; it just seems that I get bogged down in the tasks of the day.  That is the problem - getting bogged down in tasks and not taking the time to reflect on how things are going, what is not working well, what I can do to improve skills, and what is the next step in the work I am doing?

I am at the Brainstorm 2014 pre-conference this afternoon, attending the COSN (Consortium for School Networking) CTO (Chief Technology Officer) Clinic (Yes - lots of acronyms here!).  Presenters are sharing the benefits of joining COSN and working to obtain the COSN CETL (Certified Educational Technology Leaders) certification. Wisconsin has become the 16th state chapter of COSN. There is much to consider but one of the most important things that I realized (and knew) is that networking and working collaboratively with colleagues is important for technology leaders.

Many times in our district we work alone on specific tasks and are seen as the "keeper of all knowledge relating to technology" which simply is not true.  We are team members of technology and curriculum teams yet many times are presented with issues that are sometimes solved in isolation - no matter the reason - easier to solve quickly, time constraints, etc.  There are so many ways to connect to colleagues today:  social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+,), email, blogs, and other electronic connections.

My challenge to myself is to schedule  time each week to reflect on my work - for and with teachers -in our district and determine how I can work smarter, harder, more efficiently, more creatively, with the ultimate goal of developing products that are good for students.  In addition, I plan to collaborate more with colleagues.  I am signed up for my first edCamp in April where I can collaborate with educators outside my district.  I continue to keep in touch with my Apple Academy cohorts.

We are not working alone, no matter how small the district.  Find your colleagues - those you know and those you have yet to meet - and let's all learn together.