Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?

Sabbatical

26. March 2008 · 6 comments · Categories: blogging

This is probably long overdue, but I’ll feel much better getting it out in the open so it’s “official.” I’ve bitten off quite a bit this school year, including a new job, starting a doctoral program, and teaching a college course. Add into that the modestly successful podcast I work on with Melinda Miller, a soon-to-be 4-year-old and a daughter who just turned one and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

So something has to give.

After much reflection, for me it’s going to be the Universe. I’m not saying I will never pick up here again or post on occasion when I have something to write about – I’m sure I will – but finding time to craft any sort of meaningful, high-quality posts has proven to be exceedingly difficult given the papers I’m writing for grad school and the capstone class I’m teaching for teachers-to-be.

My prioritized list of commitments looks something like this:

Being a good husband and father by making time for my family FIRST.
Earning money to support my family by performing well at my day job.
Passing my grad school classes.
Teaching my undergrad class.
Continuing to build the audience around our Practical Principals podcast.

Were it not for this blog, I would likely have missed out on the chance to meet (virtually, anyway…) some incredible people with whom I continue to interact via other means. So if you’re looking for me online these days, try here:

Twitter – This has become my go-to place for (mostly) intelligent, but always fun interaction with colleagues, friends, and like-minded people I’ve never even met.

Special Sauce – To satiate my blogging desire, and as a repository for stuff that’s too big to Tweet, I’m re-discovering the joys of tumblelogging. Go ahead and subscribe – I won’t spam your reader with my “del.icio.us links of the day.” Only good stuff. I promise.

Practical Principals Podcast – Keep an ear (or at least your podcatcher) tuned. Melinda and I haven’t gone away!

LeaderTalk – I will most certainly be continuing to post on the 12th of every month as an invited contributor to the Web’s best collaborative blog for educational leaders.

If we’re friendly, you can also find me at:

Flickr
Vimeo

I just felt the need to make it official because I have felt this “weight” hanging over me; this feeling that I’m “slacking” by not keeping the Universe up-to-date.

Remember – this isn’t “good-bye,” it’s “see ya ’round.” I’m officially going on a blogging sabbatical.

[Image credit: "Untitled" by burnblue]

Honored

15. December 2007 · 5 comments · Categories: blogging, Communication, Education

SlideShare (share powerpoint presentations online, slideshows, slide shows, download presentations, widgets, MySpace codes)

Uploaded with Skitch!

My slideshow has been selected by SlideShare as the “Slideshow of the Day” and has been featured on their main page! This is all kind of overwhelming considering I created the slideshow to present to my faculty, then posted it to my blog figuring a couple people might be interested…

Then, based on some requests, I uploaded it to Slideshare and added audio figuring a couple of people might check it out. So imagine my surprise when I had an email in my box this morning saying my little presentation was going to be featured as the “Slideshow of the Day” on their main page.

Supporting the cause

07. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: blogging, Communication, Education, Software, Technology, Tools

The cause, of course, being to rise to the challenge of bringing students engaging, top-quality instruction.

I’m truly humbled by all of the positive attention my “Presentation on Presentations” has received since I published it one week ago. I’m especially grateful to those who have linked it on their own blogs and increased the potential reach for this work.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I think it bears repeating that there is nothing in that presentation that I didn’t learn from following in the footsteps of those who have covered this stuff in far greater detail (Dan, Merlin, Guy, Seth, Garr…). I have merely synthesized from the work of others and distilled it down into a presentation that I gave to a group of faculty.

My goal was to whet their appetites. Not to “convert” them to “my” way of thinking, so much as to show them that there are other (better?) ways to use presentation software — to share the possibilities.

I had a limited amount of time and there is a LOT of information out there. I didn’t know if I’d have another opportunity to share this material with them so I wanted to be sure to include as much as possible in the hour that I had. I wanted to leave them hungry to learn more and to some extent I think that I was successful.

Thanks to all who have commented and linked!