Reflections of an ADE- Part 2

An organized, late night picture of tech central
 (minus my glass of wine)

...4 questions, yup, that's all, except there were limits on how many characters you could use for each answer. How in the world do you share, succinctly and creatively, how technology has transformed and innovated your teaching when it's been a 5 year journey? I think writer's block took over before I even started! I walked around for about 2 weeks pondering that question and the other 3 before I could sit down long enough to begin penning my responses. Once I did though, the reflective journey kept me up many a late night (sometimes with a glass of wine to get me through) and always with my computer, my iPad and iPhone, and a pack of post-its for old times sake to jot ideas as I went. My kitchen table turned into tech central.

In addition to the 4 questions, I also had to bring my story to life by creating a 2 minute video showcasing my learning environment and how Apple technologies has transformed teaching and learning. 
This was my entry...

All in all, I spent about 50+ hours putting my application together and to be honest, there were a few times that I almost said, "I'm done, forget it" as it took so much of my family time away. We even cancelled a trip up to our cabin as my wonderful husband knew I'd get more accomplished at home on the WiFi than at the cabin. In the end, I'm so glad that I persevered. Reflecting made me realize just how deep my passion runs and how far I've come since those early days. 

Waiting for the video to upload so I can hit SUBMIT!

March 1st was the deadline, and I used every last minute to fine tune both my video and reflection questions. It was quite a celebration when I finally uploaded my answers and video and hit submit. Yup, even had to take a picture! Whew! Done! I slept better that night than I had in weeks! Let the wait begin!!! 

On the night of April 21st I started seeing people tweeting that they had gotten in. My heart sunk as I didn't hear anything but after a few hours, began to realize that all of these people were alumni that had applied and were being accepted. At this point, the wait was excruciating! When would we find out? 

The next night at around 9:30pm, I again saw people tweeting that they had been accepted. I remember telling my husband it was happening and the 2 of us sat on our computers and iPads constantly checking my Twitter feed and email. Still nothing... the anticipation of just not knowing was the worst. Funny story with this though... we were watching my Twitter feed, school email and my iTunes email address and hitting refresh literally about every 30 seconds. After about an hour and a half we decided to just go to bed with the thought that I didn't get in. I'm terrible about email so I checked one last time and then also checked my personal email quick, and there it was... an email from the ADE Program from about 30 minutes prior!! All that waiting and worry and it was there waiting for me the whole time! I'll be honest, I was scared to open it though. I wanted to know what the answer was, but at the same time, I didn't. 

Needless to say, We opened it and I was speechless, and for those that know me, you know that doesn't happen very often. It was official, I was selected to join the Apple Distinguished Educator Class of 2015!!

I am beyond humbled, excited, and thrilled to be on this journey. I have made so many new connections already and am excited to be able to learn from others with the same passion and desire that I have. I am excited to see where this path may lead and what opportunities lie ahead. I am still in disbelief and probably will be until I get on the plane to head to Institute,  I get off the plane in Florida, I actually walk in, somebody hands me my registration materials and pinches me! Yup, I think it's going to take somebody pinching me as it all still seems like a dream--- a dream come true!!!

Image credit: Apple