Attend the annual ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) conference and expo and you are guaranteed an experience like no other. My soulmate & co-presenter Adam Juarez and I were exhausted but excited our first day at #ISTE17. With more than 1,000 professional learning sessions to choose from and over 16,000 educators from across the globe in attendance with whom you can connect, it is a whirlwind of opportunity. I use the term “whirlwind” purposefully, as the myriad of activity each day of the event has potential to damage the impact of your learning. How do we prepare for this environmental change and take advantage of all ISTE has to offer? The answer lies in recognizing the big picture, seeking constant connections to your “why”.

Last year was the first time I both attended and presented at the annual ISTE conference. While I carefully planned presentations, organized meet-ups with educators with whom I wanted to connect, and selected specific sessions to attend, all did not go as originally planned. I learned the importance of being adaptable in the midst of the bustling activity. Sessions fill quickly and rooms are farther away from each other than I had first realized. I missed sessions I had signed up to attend, failed to meet up with colleagues I had wanted to see, and failed to capture my presentations on video as I had wanted to do. And yet, I consider this first whirlwind experience at ISTE to have been an incredible professional growth opportunity that I look back on fondly.

The success of this experience is the fact that as each of the aforementioned “missed” opportunities occurred, I remembered my “why”. It is vital that rather than getting hung up on that which we cannot control, we continually seek opportunities to connect to our “why”.

My “why” in attending ISTE was to learn from others, to build my personal learning network so that the learning would never cease. Each time one of my plans was foiled, I sought out alternate ways to attach experience to my “why”. I introduced myself to presenters I saw walking the hallways and foyers, built my network by sparking conversations with Googlers in the expo hall, and used the power of Twitter to learn from others who were tweeting takeaways from sessions I had wanted to attend. It is adaptability that resulted in a successful learning experience. If you remember your “why” as the unexpected occurs, your mind seeks solutions for continuing to meet your learning goals. This year, my “why” is a focus on culture. From the learning sessions I am facilitating to the conversations I seek to have with my growing personal learning network, I will remember that my current goal is to share and seek strategies to build a culture of belief in student learning. This goal, this “why” will allow me to maintain focus in the midst of a whirlwind. It will contextualize the experience so that the learning will be sustainable. Research shows that the brain looks for connections. We learn by attaching new learnings to the context of our prior experiences. By calling out our “why” prior to a conference, our brain will have a frame upon which to build knowledge. The big picture is not the missed opportunities, is the “why”. What is your “why”?