The Newbie Spirit

I haven't been around here for a while. Not because a lack of topics, ideas are floating in my head all the time. I could blame a lack of time, from the last post I still have all of those duties in my school. Actually my balancing act has been fairly good this year, lots of new lessons learned so far. For some time I just dropped my digital life due to the seriousness of real life. My mother has stage four colon cancer, this is so hard to even type. This has been so difficult, leading a semi-regular life has not been easy. This was not added to gain any sympathy, I am not the one who deserves it, but to show how this lesson was powerful enough to lead me back to blogging.

At the beginning of Winter Break, I dipped my toes back into the Social Networking waters. Of course I got a warm welcome back from my PLN. In one day, I got lots of resources that I still saved to Delicious despite the latest news and a chance to join an iPad tweetup. Lately I feel a sense of guilt of going to any social event, but I also know that I need those moments. I absolutely LOVE my iPad and was excited to meetup with a group of digital divas to discuss apps. While this event was informative, fun, and geeky, I realized something...... I might be a little bit of a tech snob.

One of the reasons I wanted to be a part of this event in the first place was the quality of the company. Donna Anderson (@digilibrarian21), Joquetta Johnson (@accordin2jo), Renee Henderson (@msreneescience), and Gwyneth Jones (@gwyenthjones) are all the amazing "advanced users" in the digital world. I knew we wouldn't waste time with all of the basics! That wasn't true as Gwyneth and Kathy just got their iPads for Christmas. It wasn't annoying going over the basics like taking screenshots, making folders, or enlarging iPhone apps. Why? Because of the true Newbie Spirit.

Being a Newbie isn't a bad term if you have the Newbie Spirit which would include:

• Not being afraid of new technology


• Not being afraid to admit that you only know a little about the topic


• Being truly excited to learn something new


• That positive attitude that says "Anything is Possible!"

As a trainer I need to remember the Newbie and build that spirit even when there is none. In the newbie spirit I will be heading over to Gwyneth's blog to learn about QR codes, something I know little about.

Keep a look out for another post on the Apps shared at our meetup.