Reflections on #ISTE17 (Part 1 of ???)

Hello, everyone! Long time no talk. Or is it? LOL. I don’t remember the last time I blogged and didn’t immediately take it down. For some reason, I have been very turtle-like the past few months, sticking my neck out and immediately retreating back into my protective shell. I have probably written about five posts about whatever was on my mind at the time, which I’ve published and then unpublished.

As a former English teacher, I am a huge fan of irony, even though there was hardly anything ironic about Alanis’s song (my 11th grade English teacher said so…thanks Mr. Morgan!). However, it is not lost on me that I appear to be very extroverted and have a lot to say on social media, whereas face to face it is the exact opposite. One of my friends described me as “smiling a lot, but not saying much.” Yes, it has gotten better, as Sarahdahuman has become pretty good at Fight Clubbing my way to channeling Sarahdateechur. But this is for a limited time only…this message will self-destruct. Coming to the stage next…give it up for Sarahdasociallyawkward. Sometimes this happens at the most inopportune times, but that’s another blog post for another time.

I am sitting at the airport, waiting to board my flight and go back to life, back to reality. I’m sad it’s over, but so thankful and excited for all that happened this week. I will definitely have to split it up into different posts. Hopefully this time, I will actually follow through.

Anyway, this was my fourth, and greatest, ISTE experience. This week has been one of the best of my life, and this statement is no exaggeration. I always enjoy ISTE, as I love learning and seeing my friends F2F, as well as making new ones. This week, there were several things that happened, beginning with moderating the keynote panel at Badge Summit, then the #EduMatch meetup (and the launch of our #Recipes4Ed), then giving an ignite on the big stage before the opening keynote (thanks to Anibal Pacheco for editing)…then being on panels about Google Innovator, diversity in gaming, staying connected after ISTE, and presenting in the Global PLN playground. I was also very honored (and shocked) to be one of the recipients of the Making IT Happen award. This week has been amazing, and I thank the amazing educators around me for pouring into me, as I hope to pour into you. Also, huge shoutout to the #PasstheScopeEDU crew and other friends for documenting this.

I am going to end this post here. I have a lot more to say, as this week was filled with all the feels. I’ll let this stand as an intro to hopefully a series of blog entries. I will actually turn around and start the next entry. Here’s what I hope to cover, as long as time and stamina will allow:

• The need for deeper connections (aka “PLF” lol)/vulnerability
• Gratitude
• Time management
• Possible future developments in EduMatch
• Sarahdasociallyawkward
• Why I will stop being cheap when it comes to booking flights

Thanks for reading!

Originally published at sarahdateechur.wordpress.com on June 29, 2017.