Bit By Bit

Refection on:

Personal Professional Development Keynote

by Ewan McIntosh

This presentation really hit home with me. I thoroughly enjoyed it and came away with my head spinning, knowing that I will have to go back and listen to this many times (it’s so chock-full).

Ewan talks a lot about “fear” and I really appreciate his honesty about some of the reactions he’s received to his own blog work. I love his quote, “I think we don’t know what we don’t know. So why should we be afraid of putting our views, at that particular moment, forward. If someone ridicules it in 36 hours, or in 36 months, or 36 years, does it really matter? Can we still learn from that experience? So is the fear that we’ll do something stupid justified?”

Wow.

This is good for me to hear, because I labor over every word before I publish on the blog (in fact, I am struggling hard to not erase that “Wow” in the above paragraph). Part of my choice to reflect on the “K12 Online Conference” on this blog is to break through my own barriers (cough… fear) and become more committed to reflecting with this larger community.
I think back to what Ewan said early in the podcast: that teacher are lifelong learners. Much of this learning has already been very public (i.e., mistakes/successes made in front of a “live audience”… a classroom). And yet, much of our traditional professional development does indeed take place in a vacuum… where presenters lecture, and there is very little time given for reflection. I myself am guilty of this when I present.

Blogs, Podcasts, online conferences… have offered me some of the best professional development opportunities I’ve ever had. Becoming involved in the larger community and reflecting on a daily basis (through what I read or listen to) has made me a better teacher. I can’t even imagine going back to life before Web 2.0. It’s been that transformative. I understand why some teachers resist having a blog or podcast. It feels very exposed, learning in public. But what a great example it can be for our students! For isn’t that what we want for them? To be confident, courageous, lifelong learners?

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