Rejected!

Thank you for your interest in and application for the Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) Class of 2011.  We received a record number of applications and were pleased and encouraged with the high quality of applicants. We can't begin to describe the difficulty we had selecting the new Class of 2011. 

Unfortunately, your application was not selected for this year's program.

After a full day of anticipation and waiting, at about 5pm last night I was finally informed that I will not be a part of the ADE class of 2011. Knowing that  Chris Betcher, blogger and podcaster extraordinaire, also was not accepted helped to greatly reduce the sting of this rejection, however it never feels good to get the no vote.

I often say that if you aren't failing, you aren't really trying. I still believe that is true. I'm sad I didn't make it, but I'm glad I tried. It was fun to make the video and I do believe I gave it my full effort.  The wise words my network had to offer also softened the blow.

betchaboy Chris Betcher 

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@lizbdavis From Cool Runnings, "A gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without one, you'll never be enough *with* one.

djakes David Jakes 

To all of you who didnt make the #ade2011 class, let that be motivation for learning more, being more, and never giving up.

I have also been thinking about why I applied. I have to admit to some ADA, GCT jealousy. Not having any letters to put after my name makes me feel a little left out of the club. So many people I respect in my field have these marks of approval appending their bios. Does this make me less legitimate because I don't? Does this make me worse at my job? Maybe not in reality, but I have to own up to the envy.

Dan Callahan tweeted this in the wake of hearing about our ADA results:

dancallahan Dan Callahan 

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@smartinez @lizbdavis @tgwynn I roam the open fields of the world untethered by corporate certificates. I am a Certified Free Range Educator

As an educator, what role should corporations play in my professional life? As much as I love Apple and Google products, why should they be certifying me? Should it not be the other way around? Should Apple and Google be applying to us for our stamp of approval?

In case you are interested, here is the video I made for my ADA application: