Making an Impact Locally

In Please don’t tell me about being Global….
JenW shares:
"tell me about the difference you are making on your own campus.
tell me about the people you work with at your own school.
tell me about the people you talk with F2F daily.
Tell me about the group you started on your campus with other teachers.
tell me about meeting for coffee with a fellow teacher one afternoon.
tell me about a chat you had on your own campus with your teachers.
tell me the what you are doing at your own location."

These statements really made me think about what I do locally and globally. I enjoying interacting with others all around the world on the internet but I am trying to take what I learn from my PLN and apply it to my community.
*I will be doing a workshop all day at a local school on Voicethread in January.
*I will be doing a presentation at a state conference on PBwiki in January.
*I will sharing about my PLN on the national level in Washington DC in January.
*In October I was able to share with other teachers ,during an event that I was involved in, some of the new things I have learned from my PLN.

I think the important thing that I’m trying to do is to learn and share with others on the global level but also make an impact at home. Many times I feel that way about our government too. It bothers me that we give so much to other countries (I’m not saying that we shouldn’t) but then I see so many in my own country who are homeless, hungry, and have no health insurance. Shouldn’t we be taking care of our own backyard before we start trying to fix someone else’s? I find it interesting that many churches in my area have summer mission trips where they go to other countries and help their poor communities. What a shock it was to me during my travels to other countries when I talk to some people who tell me they have mission trips to the US in order to help some of our poor communities. I want to help colleagues in my own community, but they don’t seem to be ready or want that help. Sometimes it feels frustrating that the only people who “get it” are the ones that I connect with elsewhere. But if everyone seems to connect with everyone else who is somewhere else, wouldn’t you think some of those “somewhere else” people would be in my own area? (I’m not sure I’m making any sense or if I’m rambling here, sorry). I can’t get administrators to let me talk to the teachers about new technology if the administrators don’t value this information. Many teachers feel already overwhelmed with what they have to do that they tend to patronize me when I share new stuff and then continue doing what they usually do. I don’t know what the answer is. What suggestions do you have?

Original image: 'Happy Sunrise Rainbow Girls' http://www.flickr.com/photos/40645538@N00/234942843by: D. Sharon Pruitt