Our prompt for today’s #NaBloPoMo blogging series is the following: Talk about a time when you used up an extraordinary amount of energy and were exhausted.

Well…I can think of many experiences that hold true to this statement:

• My wedding day.
• Having my first son. (but surprisingly the second was a breeze)
• Applying for my first teaching position.
• Teaching kindergarten.
• Working as a school principal for 14 years.

As I get to thinking about it, though, a time that I can remember where I had an extraordinary amount of energy, but then felt extremely exhausted was after attending a fun technology conference this past summer.

The conference was the ISTE12 gathering in San Diego California. For those unfamiliar to this conference it’s a time for educators from around the world to attend ISTE’s annual conference and exposition which provides four days of inspiration and learning. When you attend ISTE, you’ll choose from hundreds of sessions, try to attend as many as you can, as well as attend powerful keynotes and panel discussions. You’ll meet amazing people who are “rock stars” in the field of education, extend your personal learning networks and if you’re lucky…collaborate with like-minded passionate educators. You’ll also have the opportunity to play! What I mean by that is, there are a slew of fun gatherings to attend during the conference “after hours.” And after a day of high energy focus on important educational sessions, you are ready to let off some steam!

This summer was the first opportunity I had to attend, ISTE and I was fortunate to have had my Collaborative Mentoring for New Teachers session, selected for presentation. Take a minute to check it out!

The shear energy it took, to prepare for this panel session, organize my participants, lead the session and  “be on my game” for one and half hours, in front of over 100 people,  was exhausting!! Not to mention dragging around my laptop, and other items essential to the presentation. Whew!

So, you may be asking: With all this work…was it a “good kind” of exhaustion? Of course it was. Will I choose to submit a presentation for selection by ISTE in the future? Of course, I will with the main reason being that it was one of the most extraordinarily, energizing experiences that I’ve ever had! Meeting so many people who I’ve connected with on social media networks, particularly Twitter, was awesome and I can’t wait to see many of them again at ISTE13 in San Antonio, Texas!

I’m excited to be joining the BlogHer January Blogging series, a series of blog prompts that bloggers agree to write about each day. The blogosphere is going to be active with the hashtag  #NaBloPoMo and I have made the commitment to post daily for the month of January, so wish me luck! While participating, I hope to push myself to be creative and grow in my ability to be a better blogger. It would be great for you to participate with me by commenting on my post with your own take on the topic. (Weekends are free write days!)

Thank you for stopping by!