Always Learning, Always Discovering through the MIE Expert Community

The MIE (Microsoft Innovative Educator) Expert program has enhanced my professional life.  Through it, I have grown professionally and made life-long friends.  I have been reflecting on this since my recent trip to the CUE conference in Palm Springs, California and would like to share 3 ways the MIE Expert program has made an impact on me.

Collaboration
Holley Fontenot, an english teacher at my school, started gamifying units a couple of years ago with great success.  She motivated me to try gamification with professional development.  I did, and through the MIE Expert (MIEE) program, I met other educators who are gamifying learning. I recently collaborated with 3 other MIE Experts on a poster session at CUE on this topic.  Not only was I able to share what I am doing with gamification but I learned so much from what Summer Winrotte from Indiana and Rachelle Wooten from Texas are doing.  I will be utilizing some of their ideas in my PD gamification for next year.  Mary Villaume (the 3rd MIEE who is also my co-worker) added to the collaboration by sharing what she does with gamification in the classroom, and I learned from her as well.  This kind of collaboration happens every day in the MIEE program not only formally with sessions at conferences but also informally with GroupMe, Facebook, Twitter, and monthly MIEE Skype calls.

Support
The MIEE community is extremely supportive.  This support is shown through small acts of kindness like when a fellow MIE Expert snapped a picture of us sharing our poster session.  We also received support from the Microsoft Booth at the conference.  Again, this doesn't just happen at conferences.  This is a daily occurrence through the avenues mentioned above.  Help, support, encouragement are just a text or tweet away.

Learning
The learning is phenomenal.  Educators in this community are incredibly innovative.  I learn something daily from MIEEs through online communities and social media, and I definitely look for their sessions at conferences.  The learning happens formally and informally.  After CUE was over, I was fortunate enough to experience informal learning by visiting the Joshua Tree National Park with 3 of my MIEE friends.  This visit and the MIEE program remind me of one of my favorite quotes by artist, Isamu Noguchi, "I am always learning, always discovering."  If you would like to learn and discover, consider applying to the MIEE program.  You can find out more at 
https://education.microsoft.com/microsoft-innovative-educator-programs/mie-expert.