Reflections

This year will be my third year with Globaloria.  When I began the program, it was a step into the unknown.  The first year was a huge challenge.  Not only was I a newbie, but the Globaloria platform was still in its beginning stages.  It is amazing to see in just these few years how far the Globaloria team has advanced this platform.  I get excited each year when I come back to train just to see what all there is new for us as educators to use as resources for teaching the class.  The "newbies" this year have all these resources and even though the class is still intimidating and overwhelming at times, the easy access to all these ideas and "helps" makes it so much more user friendly than it was in the beginning.


When looking back at the students I have had, I remember my first Globaloria crew.  What a year we had - fighting for computer lab time and then fighting the lack of internet connection or slow bandwidth when we finally did get computers.  They were a great bunch to start with though - they had to be the most patient teenagers in the world!  I know on some days I would just want to sit down and say I quit.  As the years have gone by, I have had the experience of watching three more classes of students get excited over designing their wiki pages and blogs and then watch their frustration as they struggle with the challenges of flash and programming.  Then, seeing the "light bulb" click on when they actually get it!  This year's crew looks to be one of my best in keeping up with their work.  I just have to remind myself to not let it overwhelm them or me. 


Just like that little engine who thought he could ... we can and we will!