2014 -incredible year.
It’s that time of year when filled with festivities we reflect on our past year and set some new goals for the coming year.
2014 has been a year of with amazing edu_moments highlights.
Because this is a list of highlights, it is multistructural in thinking so to make it relational thinking I would love some dialogue with you particularly if you have been involved in any way.
Because this is a list of highlights, it is multistructural in thinking so to make it relational thinking I would love some dialogue with you particularly if you have been involved in any way.
The past years highlights all the collaboration that I have been involved in.
This year, Google Hangout was my tool of choice as I was able to run six successful TeachMeetNZ sessions. One each term and two others in between.
This involved 42 presenters. Taking the total number of presentations on the site to 72. So Next year I aim to break 100.
I joined the School in the Cloud Project as a cloud Granny.
I was also part of the #edchatnz Steering committee where we pulled together a conference for over 300 educators in 18 weeks at the cost of $20.00 each. You can read more about that here.
I co-presented at 2 international conferences. These were Global Educators and ???
I was on the advisory group for the Rail Safe launch.
I ran a SOLO Taxonomy Session for Samoan educators in Samoan.
I fulfilled a personal goal of creating a series of presentations on online portfolios and presenting them at Eduignite.
I ran a Minecraft google hangout.
I wrote 27 blog posts and fulfilled another personal goal of writing a blog post a month,. I didn’t quite achieve that because I skipped some months but made up for it in others.
I had an article published in Interface, was featured in the Pond Launch as being the first school to register all our teachers, was on the Ministry of Education site for Future Focussed examples for TeachMeetNZ.
I co created a digital book with 9 other New Zealand Educators.
To finish with, tonight I attained my Flat Connect Global Educator Certificate.
In between all that, I took part in regular edchatnz twitter chats, hosted a global classroom twitter chat and rolled out Google Apps for Education at Newmarket School.
Where to next. I am taking a leaf from @hannahrogersx blog, The Modern Girl and have set myself 7 personal goals.
1. Limit Social Media. I love social media. It is part of who I am. I do over share and can post a lot and that is me. But this year monitor the time I have on social media. Aim for one unplugged day a week.
2. Say No More Often. It’s okay to say no. I owe no one an explanation for not wanting to do whatever it is I don’t want to do. But this year be conscious of how I say no.
3. Be Gentle on myself. If I forget to pick up texts from the family whatever it is, don’t beat myself up over it. It is a waste of energy, just acknowledge it and move along. Remind family to find other ways of connecting with me.
4. If You Want Something, Ask For It. I will be crowdsourcing more. The #EdBookNZ project was an amazing experience and an amazing resource for educators written for by educators. This year I will be looking for more ways of tapping into the fabulousness we have here in New Zealand. I am aiming for two TeachMeetNZ. One in Maori and one in Samoan.
5. Find the Balance. Office looking a mess? Haven’t walked up Mt Eden for a while and keep forgetting my packed lunch on the bench? Probably because I have been burning the candle at both ends. Find some balance back in my life. This year aim to visit Tiritirimatangi more often and drink my water.
6. Write more. Mind is racing and sleep gets disruptive because of the gazillion ideas spinning in my head. Stop, look out somewhere peaceful and slow down the thought process and write. Aim for a blog post a week.
7. Spend time with family. Sisters forgotten what I look like. Parents are quiet around me? Forget to ring my boys? Put the tools away and look up. This year I aim to make eye contact, remember birthdays and schedule phone time with my boys.
I want 2015 to be a year of balance. Just like my Libra sign.
Happy 2015,
Sonya @VanSchaijik 