We Are All Worthy Of Sharing: Lessons from MACUL 2013

Whenever I go to a conference, I try to get a feel for its theme; I gather all of the information I gleaned and attempt to sum it up in a few short words so that it all seems to make sense. This past week, I was able to attend the 2013 MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) Conference in Detroit. The conference was two jam-packed days filled to the brim with educators who have a passion for sharing their love of learning and technology. Attendees from the conference head home with a wealth of knowledge, and a tool belt filled with new ways to make connections with students. This year’s theme, to me, was, “Your story is worth sharing, so TELL IT!”. From the opening to the closing keynote, educators from across the state (and outside of it as well) shared their stories of triumph, success, risk, and failure all in the good name of education. 

At the opening keynote, Kevin Honeycutt made it his mission to inform educators that now is the most important time for outsiders to hear our stories. They need to see what is actually happening in the classroom from our own eyes because the folks who are trying to tell our story (politicians) aren’t telling it right. This was a bold statement made by Mr. Honeycutt, and for that, he received a round of applause. 

Leaving the main conference center, empowered with ideas on how to share my teaching story, I then headed to a session on blogging hosted by The Nerdy Teacher himself, Nick Provenzano. In his session, Nick spoke about the importance of blogging for personal reflection, but also in claiming our own little space on the internet. “Start a blog. Realize that you are worthy of sharing,” he stated. Ain’t that the truth. 

And so now I’ve come to this thought: there are hundreds of thousands of educators who wake up every single morning with hopes to change the world one student at a time. Each of these educators has something to add to make our profession even better. This thought motivates me, and this is why I will dust off the blog page and get crackin’. One idea could snowball into something huge, and we need to realize the impact we make on a daily basis.

So, although MACUL is a techy convention, I certainly learned that the technology is just a way to get our story out there; it doesn’t matter what we use, we just need to tell our story. We are ALL worthy of sharing!!