A year ago today I was preparing for Christmas, wrapping up my 7.5 year career in Evansville, saying my goodbyes to friends, colleagues, and former students, trying to sell my house on Craigslist without a realtor, and preparing for my new job as Director of Technology in a new school district.
A year later I am preparing for Christmas, reflecting on one year of employment at Greater Clark County Schools, I've settled into our new home, made new friends, stayed connected with the old friends and former students, and finished up our first semester 1:1 with Chromebooks in grades 3-12.
In no certain order, here are some things I've been thinking about after a year as a Director of Technology, and a semester into our Chromebook initiative.
- People will do amazing things when you give them the time and the space to reach for greatness.
- Focusing on the positive takes work. Focusing on the negative is easier and more natural.
- If you can't write down on paper what you are doing and why you are doing it, then you don't know what you're doing.
- Nothing is ever as bad as it seems.
- Yes, you can hand out 6,000+ Chromebooks in 3 days.
- Yes, you can roll out close to 9,000 Chromebooks total!
- I can make it through a week on less than 30 hours of sleep for the entire week. #teamnosleep
- If teachers and students don't see the connection between chromebooks and curriculum, they don't use them at all or only for minimal task like test taking.
- If what I just wrote above occurs, that's my fault.
- There is nothing more valuable than a teacher who will empower his or her students to change the world.
- Nothing is more fun than watching a teacher light up when they come across something that will help them be a better teacher.
- Nothing is more difficult than watching people struggle and fail. Even though you know the struggles and failures are only temporary.
- I never get tired of stories that start with, "This kid never says anything but..."
- I love hiring people and then watching them succeed!
- You probably thought this blog post would be more about what actually happened and not these random thoughts written at 2:30 in the morning.
- There is much work ahead.
- I love my job!
- I should have blogged more this past year.
cross-posted at www.educationdreamer.com
Brett Clark is an elearning coach for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation. He talks about tech tools on the Flipped Learning Network's weekly podcast. He is also a regular guest on the TeacherCast podcast and a blogger for TeacherCast.net. Read more at www.educationdreamer.com.
