Yesterday I presented a session about “Differentiation Using Google Apps” at TIES in Minnesota and it was another good presentation, but yet I feel I can be doing better.  During the #MNLead chat on Twitter Sunday night I shared out the phrase, “Live life in beta”.  I have heard that phrase a lot over the last year and it is one that I really like to use.  (Because I have heard it so much over the last year, I do not know who to attribute it to, but it is one that I hope a lot of people will use.)

On the drive back from Minnesota I spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on how my presentation went and how it compared to the presentations I went to.  I know there are ways that I can improve my own presentation, but they have to be tied to the goal that I have for my presentation.  I stated my goal to my audience at the beginning that I wanted to engage them all as learners and I wanted them to be able to take something away to use right away.  I spend time during my sessions focusing on the pedagogy involved with the technology use in the classroom but I also feel I need to train them a bit so they have something they can take away.  I feel we need a combination of both pedagogy and training during sessions as the focus has to be on both.  We need that reason why we should be doing what we do but we also need to know how to do what we want to do now.

I will continually work on improving as a presenter as I hope to continue to go to conferences to present to others and share what I have learned and experienced.  I know I am not perfect and that I can improve and that the version of me that will be at the next conference will be an updated version of who I am now.  I am trying to live my life in beta and think of how I can improve for the next time.  We have to be thinking of how we can grow and improve, how we can try new things and experience new events in order to keep learning and growing.  As educators we should be modeling the learning process and the learning process should never stop.  We should be always working on that next update to roll out and never think we have a finished product.  It may be tiring at times to think this way but our students deserve nothing less than our best, and we can always be improving.  Do not focus on where you were yesterday but where you can go today and where you might end up tomorrow.