Sometime in September the principal of the high school I teach at came into my classroom and asked if I would be willing to attend a Solution Tree conference in November. Being in my third year of teaching and soon to be under a new form of evaluation I found it impossible to say no. I knew I would be sacrificing a good chunk of time from my family and taking away from my second job as an assistant wrestling coach at another school. The departure date would be the first day of our new season. Weighing out the costs and fear of saying no I reluctantly said I would attend. Little did I know Authorspeak 2011 would be the driving force behind a 180 degree change to my educational strategies.
Authorspeak opened my mind to concepts that should have been introduced to me in college several years ago. I now have something to blog about. Excuse number one is no longer valid. Recently in have become active on Twitter, following #Edchat. I have entered a huge professional learning network that has unlimited potential. Teachers are sharing resources and ideas like never before in a tremendous way. At any time I can log on Twitter and find a resource or thought provoking idea I can use in my classroom. My PLN throws excuse two out the window. I've written this blog entry on my iPhone in our church parking lot as my wife practices with the praise team. Normally I'd be watching Netflix; excuse three is gone.
In the coming weeks I would like to begin blogging about some of the things I learned at Authorspeak and how I am transforming my classroom, including the ways I deliver content to the student. I will have good and bad blog entries. I hope to learn in the future what works and what doesn't, in and out of the classroom. I hope I can have a positive effect on at least one person's professional development. If so, my blog entries are worth it.