New Years–a time for rest, rejuvenation and repair. A time to assess life. Do we settle into our routine, enjoy where it’s headed, or is it time to grab our purse, iPhone, car keys, and get out of there?
As a teacher-author, New Year’s Resolutions are more of a To Do list. I break it down into Edtech Coaching/Mentoring, Blogging, and Fiction Writing (my novel writing):
Edtech Coaching/Mentoring
Focus on podcasts, webinars, online classes, and other web-based learning outlets for Ask a Tech Teacher. I have some great partners in this:
If you’re looking for this sort of extension in your platform, let me know.
Blogs
- Continue publishing 3-5 articles a week on each of my core blogs Ask a Tech Teacher, WordDreams, and USNA or Bust! Also, continue with my columns and guest posts for TeachHUB, NEA Today, and Today’s Author.
- Expand the reach of my blogs. What has worked well for me this year is:
- link back to blogs that address the same topic I’m writing about. You may have noticed that I include websites that let you dig deeper into a topic but not enough of them.
- visit blogs that cover my topics. I do this already–love doing it–and will continue
- Add internal links for posts within my blog that address the same topic I’m writing about.
- Find guest bloggers. I’ve reached out a bit, but not enough. My readers would benefit from other opinions. If you’re interested, let me know at askatechteacher at gmail dot com.
Fiction Writing
- March: Finish Book 1 in my Crossroads trilogy called Survival of the Fittest:
Five tribes. One leader. A treacherous journey across three continents in search of a new home.
The story is set 850,000 years ago, a time in prehistory when man populated most of Eurasia. He was a violent species, fully capable of addressing the many hardships that threatened his survival except for one: future man, a smarter version of himself, one destined to obliterate those who came before.
Based on a true story, this is an unforgettable saga of hardship and determination, conflict and passion. Early man is the Hero and survival — or extinction — is the journey.
- June: Finish Book 2 of the Crossroads trilogy, The Quest for Home:
- Start the final Book in the Crossroads trilogy, In the Footsteps of Giants. Planned publication: Summer 2020.
What are your resolutions? What are you doing I should be? I want to learn from you.
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice reviewer, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
