End of the year fast approaching

It is disturbing how quickly this year has gone past. I feel there is so much to reflect upon, but so little inclination to actually commit my thoughts here. We have 3 days left of the final term; the students have checked out already, and I'm not far behind.

It has been a busy year; the first one in a long time where I have shed a lot of my additional responsibilities and just mostly taught instead. It has been tiring. I am not sure I have used my time wisely and there may have been some serious procrastination going on at times. I think it has been a coping mechanism as I have felt quite stressed at times this year. All under control now, but hey, still enjoy procrastinating... I am more determined to work smarter next year, and may use a bit more AI. I am still wary of it because of the environmental impact it has, and I am not keen to add to global warming. 

In July, I managed to get back to England to see family for the first time in 6 years. It was a much needed break and did actually help me to feel a bit happier about things. It did also confirm that we really do want to move back, and that leaving NZ is now a priority. The house has gone on the market already, so we'll see how that goes.

Just after getting back from England, I flew to Melbourne for the EduTech conference, presenting at the Google theatre. Most of the stalls were either focused on the primary sector (not really relevant to my school) or were very Aussie-based (obviously). There were still some displays that were very interesting and useful. It was an enormous event, a lot of people, loads of trade displays. I felt a better map would have been useful for delegates, and the food options were actually really limited. It was good to catch up with my extended digital learning family; especially the Google peeps. There was a huge focus throughout on AI, as one would expect. 

Now, we are looking ahead to 2025. A quarter of a century since the Millenium. Today also marks exactly 20 years since I moved to NZ. Hopefully, I won't be here for the 21st anniversary of that. I am already half planning courses for next year, difficult when there are so many uncertainties with it all; however, I'd like to leave everything ready to go for another teacher if it all goes according to plan and the house sells. It's a terrifying prospect in a way - we will not have a lot of time to get everything finalized, the house contents packed up or sold, the cars sold and the cats on their way back to England as well.

A year of challenges, but I'm feeling like I can meet them head on and overcome them. Bring it on!

A social dilemma

I am in a quandary. I am not a great fan of most social media but feel I need to air my thoughts on here. My favourite of all time was Google+ (or G+, then Currents as it became). I was connected to so many cool educators and we talked about awesome stuff. Then Google killed it, with no alternative to turn to.I have had a Twitter account for 12 years, with thousands of interactions. I killed it because Elon is a dick, and I can't get behind anything he does, ever. The trolls, racists and Trumpists broke it. It became a cesspit of the worst types of people. I checked earlier out of curiosity; my account is dead and gone. No chance of resurrection so I am walking away from it completely. I feel mildly bereft that so many cool interactions in both of these platforms are gone forever. 

I use Facebook, but keep it very private. Not a useful place to connect although it does have times when it is useful. Not a big fan though, and I find plenty I don't like. 

Instagram - not a place for decent social interaction. Likewise Threads. It started with promise but is full of crap. The diaspora has spread.

Mastodon feels like I am shouting into the void and there is not even an echo. Ghost town would be an understatement. 

Bluesky is a bit exclusive as it is invite-only at the moment. Starting to gain some traction among educators though, so it is showing a little (slow-moving) promise. I will be focusing a little more on building this one.

I am using LinkedIn a bit more, it seems to be reasonably OK in terms of the people I connect with, but we don't have fabulous discussions like I had on G+ and Twitter/X. Has the world moved on and left me feeling more anti-social media? Or have I moved on? We'll have to see what happens a year from now if any of these other sites gains traction. It's a shame to have to leave good channels of communication behind. If anyone has any better suggestions for places to connect with like-minded souls, hit me with them!

*SIGH* I'm now bored of Insta, Threads etc. I am sticking to Mastodon and BluSky as well as my Facebook...