Throughout the personal side of my career, the side composed of conference presentations, my blog, and social media, I have always controlled all components. Presentations at conferences were thought of, created, and presented by me alone. My blog has been written only by me. Social media has been used for my personal knowledge and sharing of things I deemed important. As things directly tied to my work evolved through reflection, I recently decided it was time to take a step back and reflect on the personal side as well.
The first fruit to come from this reflection was a change to my conference presentations. Prior to this year’s Brainstorm Conference (a collaboration between SVTC, VSTE, and JMU), I decided that I wanted this conference to more directly support my why or reason I do what I do. My why is to help others achieve at their highest levels through caring, understanding, and support. I decided I would use my reputation to not only help others break into presenting at conferences but also allow me to support my why.
Thus, I looked to those I knew within my school division. I reflected on conversations I’ve had with colleagues over the years and focuses closely on those I knew wanted to someday present at conferences. After reflection, I chose three colleagues I trusted and believed in completely. Their drive was unmistakable and the commitment to students continues to enhance our learning community. We collaborated on session proposals, slide decks, resources, and presentation practice.
With this amazing collaboration, three sessions emerged for inclusion at Brainstorm; Student Driven Performance Based Assessment, Working Towards Paperless in Elementary with G Suite, and Student Driven Learning with Hyperdocs and Multimedia Text Sets. Mr. Phil Strunk (@MrPStrunk) gave dynamic energy and passion to the Student Driven Performance Assessments. Mrs. Lois Evans (@piggy42ndgrade) brought G Suite to the elementary level with meaningful purpose. Finally, Mrs. Alysia Deem (@DeemAlysia) informed and captivated the audience with a wealth of information that truly brings students into the driver’s seat of their learning.
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| Phil Strunk | @MrPStrunk | Lois Evans | @piggy42ndgrade | Alysia Deem | @DeemAlysia |
What happened after these epic presentations? You guessed it, reflection. Reflection from the evaluations from our attendees, on our presentation as a whole, and, for me, reflection on my choice to step back and embrace my why. Evaluations were positive across the board and we even received a request to come present at school division for their entire staff! On the whole each group will get together to reflect on the presentation from all sides we can think of. Were we prepared? Was the audience engaged? How can we make it more interactive? In a perfect world of PD, what would have made the presentation better? Finally, when I think back on the choice to extend help and trust to my colleagues to co-present I couldn’t be happier and more proud. Proud not of myself, but of them for taking a risk and doing something completely new. Happy for myself and venturing out of my comfort zone and happier for those I get to call co-presenters on their triumphant entrance into the world of conference presentations.
If nothing else comes from your reading of these posts on reflection, please take away the notes of belief, trust, risk-taking, and reflection to bring it all together. Believe in others more than they even believe in themselves. Extend trust even before it is earned. Support risk-taking for growth and the ability to #FailForward. Finally, reflect often to fuel iteration and innovation both professionally and personally. Don’t fear failure, fear not ever giving it a try…
Patrick B. Hausammann, M.S. Ed.
Perpetual optimist and believer in the power of a #growthmindset to #failfoward. Co-Founder of #EdcampNSV and Certified #GoogleET, Admin, & Educator 1 & 2.
Website: www.epedtech.com
Twitter: @PHausTech