ASTE 2012

Well,
I have been struggling to find something interesting to talk about for the last two weeks... and I am sorry to say that I really don't have any news. I did attend ASTE recently. The Alaska Society for Technology in Education is the preeminent education conference for the state of Alaska. It is a time when Bush, urban, road system and coastal communities send their best and brightest to learn from each other.

This year is the first in 6 years, I think, that I have not presented. I cut my teeth in front of peers in the Captain Cook Hotel... I learned that I had something special. I learned that I had insights others would appreciate hearing. I learned that I was valuable.

This year at ASTE I was back in the public world. For two years I was the suit-and-tie-ace-consultant-Sam.  Now that I am back in public education I can work shoulder to shoulder with friends and colleagues to accomplish larger goals and achieve greater gains across this great state. I love my job. I love the men and women who do what I do in other districts.

It takes a special type of person to do what we do. We are personal computer experts, network infrastructure gurus, and wizards from the magical kingdom of "InternetLand." I manipulate video teleconferences, edit permissions, and reset passwords with ease. And I do all this without running water for a few days a month. I am in a strange universe where I have thousands of dollars worth of high-end gizmos and gadgets transported across frozen tundra as I sometimes drive a snow machine to work. I have more computers and better access to educational software than 90% of the world's population while the villages I serve lack stable power for weeks on end at times.

ASTE is where men and women like me meld minds and find creative solutions to the unique situations Alaska faces. I enjoy the time spent in workshops refining my craft and collaborating with peers, but my favorite part is still ASTE after 4pm...

Those stories don't go on my blog, though.... See you on Facebook.