This might be a slightly different institute reflection than what you expect. I’ve read a few lovely recounts of what happened and what we did. Everyone has done such a great job doing so that I won’t repeat it here but rather talk about how the institute made me feel and how it changed my thinking.
1. I am not alone
Austria is a beautiful country and we loved living there. As a non-German speaker however it can be very difficult to network with other teachers, even those at other international schools. Twitter has therefore been my main channel of connecting with other teachers since the last ADE institute in 2017. The #appleEDUchat each Tuesday is a little weekly boost of great ideas, mutual understanding, and an enthusiasm for excellence in teaching! At the institute, it was three days of the same! These people think like me – they get excited about conditional highlighting #Battlemania and are amazingly open to share and support each other’s sometimes crazy ideas. We are not alone and have a community tribe to call on when we need to.
2. I have something valuable to contribute
Sometimes when I see other people’s work on Twitter, I am amazed at their creativity and originality. I sometimes wonder to myself, “How did they think of that?” In my most Eeyore of Eeyore moments this sometimes leads to me think, “I wish I could think of something or do something like that”. At the institute I had the chance to share some little Keynote gif animations I made – just some silly fun really – and they received really positive reaction. I was asked to share them by other teachers and even the Apple people were interested. I had something to contribute and this is the power of sharing.
3. I need to seek out collaboration and feedback
I can’t do it all and I shouldn’t try. Everyone has their own speciality – it’s when we work together, using our strengths, that amazing things will happen. It’s already started 🙂 Without feedback and opening up my ideas to others they will always be just me – as they say, “two heads are better than one” so how much better is the feedback/encouragement from a whole world of passionate and driven educators and technology experts.
I have a few Keynote projects in the works and, with only one week before school starts, not really that much time to get them finished. So, better get back to it…
