Aug 31 2009
OTG Gone Overboard?
Warning: personal post coming your way. Read at your own discretion.
For those of you in my PLN who are close to me, you know that personally, these past four months have been the most difficult time in my life.
It’s ironic, because professionally, it has been a wonderful time.
I am on several waiting lists to find out more information about taking a Master’s course of study in Educational Technology. This is a goal I’ve had for a long time, and hope to be able to afford. My recent trip to NECC09 has brought me many additions to my PLN, and great friendships that I hope will only continue to grow. I joined twitter in May and have made many friendships that I treasure. I was blessed with an amazing opportunity to visit the Edutopia crew at Skywalker Ranch, and engage in educational discussions with 4 of the people I look up to with great regard: Larry Ferrlazzo, Alice Mercer, Derrall Garrison, and Gail Dessler. I had the opportunity to have great conversations about social media and exciting ideas about education with Steve Hargadon, a mentor and friend. I have been able to stay in contact with many new friends from NECC over twitter, skype, google chat, and the iphone. I have been asked to present at several conferences and to contribute to several local edtech groups. And…. I was blessed with a new job at my school of Curriculum & Instructional Technology Specialist. Adding to the difficult time I’m going through, I decided to leave my job of ten years and jump into this new role, in hopes of creating school change.
There are many ideas that I would like to make happen this year as well.
I want to be trained to participate in the edtechtalk groups. I have interests in contributing more to LearnCentral, using Elluminate for a list of brainstormed webinars I have in a Google Doc. I’d love to begin co-presenting at conferences. I want to support new teachers by creating a blogging support network. I plan to create a Web 2.0 Tech Club for students at my school. I want to contributing more on Classroom 2.o. I hope to start a support group for new teachers trying to establish a PLN. Then there’s that book I started last year…
Time to go OTG
With school starting and a great deal of personal stress to work through, I knew I needed to take a moment to breathe. I decided to go Off the Grid for a little while. Maybe a weekend or two. I had read about the benefits of going OTG from two dear friends, Beth Still and MaryBeth Hertz. Both are wonderful articles that really made me think. So I decided to give it a try.
However… I didn’t just go OTG, I jumped overboard and seemed to disappear completely. Needless to say, my OTG time became, as one friend put it, an extended Cyber-Diet.
Why am I deciding to share this with you?
1. To thank my dear friends. I appreciate all of the sweet messages from my PLN that have been concerned and are hoping I’ll come back soon. You mean a lot to me. Your checking in with me regularly on twitter, gmail, and skype has been an encouragement to me through difficult times. It’s nice to know I’m not forgotten. Even if I’m a newbie and don’t feel like I have much to share, you continue to be there for me. Thank you!
2. To let my new followers know that I’m coming back. I somehow keep having people add me to their Google reader and twitter followings, even though I’ve been offline for a while. Know that I am coming back. I don’t know how or when, but I hope to be able to contribute, as well as find information that will help me on my quest to make learning more engaging and meaningful for students, support teachers, inform families, and share the journey with you.
3. Most importantly, to let those of you that may be in my shoes to know that it’s okay to take a break. I know I can’t possibly be the only one going through difficult times, barely breathing, trying to hold it all together; while wanting to continue in lifelong learning, and to make a difference in others lives.
We’re educators. We get busy. We get overworked. We get overcommited. We care about others. We need to keep each other accountable to finding balance.
I’m here to say that going OTG is healthy from time to time. Sometimes life can be difficult and it seems that an extended Cyber-Diet is more appropriate. Be true to yourself and listen to your heart.
If you want to contribute to the lives of others,
you first need to make time to take care of yourself.
This is one of those times for me. I hope my followers, PLN, and friends can stick with me. I’ll hope you will be there. Know that when you need me, I will be there for you too.
Photo Attribution: Train Pulling Out, & Suns by Taic
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
Hey! I was asking around about you the other day… I’ve tried going OTG before and haven’t been able to make it more than 2 days. 3 weeks? That’s incredible. I honestly didn’t believe that this was possible.
Anyhow, I understand the super-busyness that you’re going through. I’m right with you- although probably not dealing with it as smartly. Hope you can get caught up (ha!) on your projects, and don’t forget to ask for help if you need it.
Just be sure to stop in every once in a while to say hello
Donelle,
I can relate so well to what you are going through. I am so glad you have been able to unplug for a few weeks. I have made the mistake of trying to take on too much this year. It is only the second week of school and I am barely keeping my head above water. I can talk about the importance of finding balance all day long, but I am failing miserably at actually doing it. (I have more personal details to share about that—-but not here!)
I cannot wait for you to come back to us. We have a trip to plan girlfriend! (More details on that, too!) Just know there are so many people out there who will be able to relate to your need to just step back and breathe. I would if I could….but I can’t.
Donelle,
I have been on the out-skirts of your PLN through twitter since you joined in May. Going OTG is a wonderful thing, and I hope that the rest that you are getting will re-energize you. I have tweeted recently that “it is hard being a pawn with big ideas.” Allow me to speak some encouragement.
You are in education because you want to change the world, and you are!! The hardest part about being an educator is that you rarely see any fruit from your labor. Your determination and drive keeps me striving to make changes in my district too. I am learning that nothing happens as fast as I would like, but a baby step forward is still forward progress.
I agree with the wisdom of Beth above me. Take on ONE battle that you believe in and work on getting others to fight with you. You will overwhelm yourself and burn out all too quickly if you take on too much.
I am praying for you, and look forward to your return to the grid.
Donelle,
What a wonderful response to a difficult time. You have given words to the feelings of so many. Not only do educators get overwhelmed by their roles, but the pace at which new information technologies change, and the never ending demands of the previously “deemed important” aspects of teaching and learning—they provide insurmountable challenges. And we get tired. And discouraged. And then wonder if we are spinning our wheels in the right direction, or are we simply spinning?
Congratulations on stopping. Assessing. Renewing. Reviewing. Revamping…and then with energy channeled in just he right place, getting going again.
It is a process I call “learning” and I believe you can’t teach well unless you are a good learner, and you are clearly one of the best!
Rest up!
Marie
I’m so glad, Donelle, that you DM’d me on Twitter! Your new post came up on my Google Reader (with over 200 unread items!) and I knew I had to read it.
I have been so disappointed to come back to work and find that all of this energy, all of these ideas and plans that I’ve been dreaming up all summer will be impossible to accomplish all at once, if at all, with the staff at my school. As Jason & Beth commented, we’re only ONE PERSON, we can’t change a whole school/district culture ourselves!
Sometimes, going OTG is what we need to do for our sanity and what we need to do to remind ourselves that we’re only human! With all of these ideas running around our heads, and blog posts and tweets filled with resources and philosophies and projects and and and…..it’s hard to feel grounded.
Let’s all take Jason’s advice and take on one thing at a time.
I’m glad to have met you—we still have to Skype sometime
–and I look forward to learning with you and hearing about your accomplishments in your new job.
Hey Donelle,
Although it’s hard to tell sometimes, I go OTG at least once a week for 12 hours or more. (Scheduling posts makes it look like I’m online). And at least once a month a take a full 48 hours OTG. I stumbled onto that pattern by accident, but I’ve found it renews my energy for blogging and PLNs. In fact, if I don’t take a break I get very stagnant and uncreative (if that’s even a word).
I’m sharing this just so you know that you’re not the only one that needs time OTG. And taking time OTG can make you a better member of your PLN and the larger edublogging community.
Best of luck with your new job.
Richard
You know how to “set the hook” with your warning in red, italicized font at the top of the post. What can I say? I’m a sucker for disclaimers.
When others post warnings like that, I typically don’t get alarmed. When you noted that this was a personal post, I got a little concerned.
Here’s my take: the coolest part about having a PLN is that, when you reach the point where you can no longer tread water and your head dips below the surface, your PLN will pull you up. Everyone that has commented on this post is here for you…even those fine folks that subscribed to your RSS feed and twitter feed in your absence.
By the way, I am so tweeting this blog entry of yours. :]
Take care of yourself first, D. It’s not being selfish; it’s just healthy. And, know that any one of these fine educators in the comments above, as well as your extended PLN, will do anything we can to help…even if that means respecting your OTG time.
You are missed. But, I think we all understand why you’ve elected to stay on an extended cyber-diet. Hang in there, D. I have a strong suspicion that things will turn out awesome.
Donelle,
Thank you for sharing this. I, too have been feeling the need to take a step back and reassess where I am and what I’m doing. In doing so, I have found myself OTG for longer and longer periods of time…and feeling a bit guilty about it. Your post, and the comments that follow, remind me that I am not alone in feeling a bit overwhelmed from time to time. Thank you for that.
And I agree with Beth. We are going to have to plan a trip.
Angela
*warning, personal comment coming your way…!
Great post, and good for you! I went to the doctor early last year and found out I was showing the classic signs of burnout – scary! I guess that’s what working too much, doing a graduate diploma, being a mom, having health problems and dealing with family issues all at the same time does to a person.
I had to make some changes quickly, which I did. I swallowed my pride and my “I can do it all” over-achieving attitude and let go of all but the most important things in my life. Even so, it took me almost nine months to get back to normal. I’ve felt symptoms sneaking up on me a few times since then, at which point I again have to stop and reassess what I’m doing to myself.
Make sure a couple of weeks is enough for you, and take as much time as you need. We’ll all be here when you’re ready to come back!
Donelle,
I think that every one of us at some point feels the same as you. I think the PLN is not only about learning but about support. It’s like an invisible net that’s there to catch us if we need it. The best part is that you can pick up right where you left off when you come back.
I know I’ve been so overwhelmed the past week that I actually don’t know where to start when I walk into my lab (which got new computers over the summer to add to my stress). I have not turned on one computer yet because of being pulled by all the other teachers trying to get THEIR classrooms ready for the first day tomorrow.
Remember your blog title. It’s about LIFELONG learning, not learning for Sept. 2 back to school. Good luck with where ever this journey takes you!
To my dear friend,
I too was experiencing a feeling of overload and went OTG as you were posting this. It was amazing to me the feeling of anxiety I had when I didn’t open up my Twitter stream for several days. I felt like I was abandoning my PLN but knew I had to take a break and get things centered.
When school started for me three weeks ago I found out that I would be teaching math and social studies. I no longer have any ELA classes and had to wrap my head around that since so many of the projects I wanted to do were ELA based. Then I had to deal with a very disruptive start to our year because of air conditioning installations that were being done. As I was trying to establish routines in my classroom we got moved to another room, then we moved back into my room. However the new unit didn’t work properly so we moved out again. Finally, after almost three weeks in school, we were able to settle into our classroom. Now I can regroup and get going with all the wonderful plans I worked on over the summer.
Going OTG enabled me to rethink what collaborative projects I really want to have my students particiapte in this year and to get my social studies curriculum established. Now I am breathing easier and feel ready to tackle this new school year.
Take all of this great advice that members of your PLN have sent your way and center yourself. We will be here for you and will accept you with open arms when you are ready to go back on the grid.
Love ya’.
Paula
Ditto to all the above, Donelle.
I had a crazy summer (that’s an understatement), and I felt like everything was falling apart. I dropped off the face of the earth as well, but it was so comforting to know my PLN was asking around about me… and they were there to welcome me back when I did resurface.
So welcome back- take it easy- remind yourself to BREATHE a lot- and be careful that your expectations for yourself are realistic. You DO have a lot of change in your life right now, so “slow and steady” would be a good mantra for you right now.
*hugs*
Michelle
I hope you come back on the grid soon. your presence here is missed.