Ghosts of Conferences Past

As I sit here unable to sleep and not yet packed even though I am leaving later today, I started thinking about my experiences from previous NECC/ISTE conferences. Still a relative newbie to other attendees, each conference was a completely different experience for me. Looking back there were some lessons I learned that will hopefully make ISTE 2011 in Philly an even better experience.

San Antonio 2008: Complete Newbie

I sat at home online when I read about NECC in Atlanta and was determined I needed to go to this conference the following year. It was an overwhelming experience, I was too afraid to talk to anyone, and I was completely worn out trying to go to every session. Despite those three factors, I enjoyed the trip. The Riverwalk was so much fun and I loved the history of San Antonio.

D.C. 2009: In my neighborhood

This was the conference where I ventured into the Bloggers' Cafe and learned more there than most of the sessions I attended. I attempted to get over the shyness and that only happened in spurts. There was a new problem, I spent too much time with people I knew and worked with in the district. I love them, but I missed out on a lot of new connections.

Denver 2010: New Adventure

Third time around I felt a little more confident and I actually presented. I had a lot of fun because I said, "yes" more often than "no." This was the first time I had a room mate and I think that pushed me to venture out more. There were times that others diminished my confidence, but I blame myself for that.

So what can I gather from all this:

1. I do have a room mate this year.

2. I have said, "yes" to a lot already and "no" will be erased from my vocabulary.

3. Since the conference is close to home, I will limit my time with work colleagues.

4. I will take time to enjoy the city, even though I have been to Philly many times.

5. Balance sessions with informal conversations.

6. I am gonna be me and not worry about what others think.

May Philly 2011 be the best conference so far.

2009 is my hope for 2010

Of course this time is a great time to be reflective and figure out if 2009 was a good year or the one that I will slip away quietly. There were many events that I found about 2009 to be personally rewarded.


Feeling closer to my network: This was the latest addition, but one I felt should top the list. I am truly blessed to have a wonderful network of people that I can learn from everyday.


Article about Grants: The unexpected surprise of someone outside of my school and PLN finding out about my plans to bring new technology to the school. The best part was that students were the focus of the reporter and photographer. They were the whole reason for all of that work.


Finishing Grad School: The other day I realized that I earned three degrees in one decade. I can't say that I found all of the answers in formal education, but it did give me a great foundation to be a reflective educator.


Becoming the Tech Liaison: This has been a great lesson in leadership and learning about the needs of my school.


ISTE 2010 Acceptance Email: This was an amazing surprise since I never expected to have my first proposal accepted. What was even better was that PLN bud Ken Shelton brought up the idea of working on a proposal during a rough tech moment at my school and helped me through the whole process. The icing on the cake is having an amazing panel to converse with during ISTE '10.


The Last NECC Conference: It was local this time which made it a different experience than San Antonio. I had the best of both worlds by spending more time with those I rarely get to see in my district and from across the country.


The Last MICCA Conference: At the time I didn't know this would be the last one due to the name change to MSET. It was a perfect ending because it was my best experience at MICCA. Of course it was the people that made it a cloud nine experience. I am so grateful to have a local sect of my PLN that give me the courage to push my own limits.


Powering Up with Technology: While I can't say this has been highlight in my presenting experience, there were some definite highlights! Spending a day with my favorite techies, supporting a new presenter, and seeing Aaron Smith, the Art Guy, win a netbook only to rid it of Windows XP was worth it.


DEN Leadership Council: This is still a work in progress, but a great lesson on being a member of a group.




The best part about all of these events is that they make me excited for 2010. I like the idea of a fresh start and new adventures. While I spent days trying to find an inspiring ending to this post and 2009, I think I will borrow the words from my High School/Facebook friend Scott:

My resolution for 2010 is to let no day this year go wasted. I hope all the people close to me find a little bit of happiness in every day of the year and on some days a lot.

NECC Surprises

Well I have been so busy contributing to a district blog about my NECC experience that I have neglected my own blog. While I started the whole conference kind of sluggish, now I am in full speed mode. If I had to summarize my first full day in one word it would be: surprises. There were so many small events yesterday that surprised me that I felt that should be the post topic.

One of the biggest surprises of the day was the concepts, terms, and sites that no one had heard of before. Here are some of them:

Twitter

Backchannel

RSS

I was personally surprised that there were no WOW moments for me in yesterday's sessions. So of course I went into reflection mode. It couldn't possibly be because I am so advanced that there is nothing more to learn. Maybe I was in a fog when working on my planner or didn't see the potential of some session (the library 2.0 smackdown was one of them). What I should have realized earlier in the day was learning doesn't just take place in the sessions.

Probably the biggest surprise of all were the people at the conference. I had the best time having discussions with those I had know and those that I had never met. It was a little disappointing that some of those close to me seemed so distant, but that was quickly overshadowed at the Tweet-Up, brief stay at the MICCA party, and a late dinner with those that were willing to adopt me into their group.

I have a feeling that there will be more surprises as the convention continues. There is some surprise that I was brave enough to plant myself in the Blogger's Cafe for the second keynote.

If you are looking for links, I decided to be organized (another surpise) and tag all of my links in Delicious with necc2009.

Go Ahead, Toot your own Horn!

It is kinda of weird, the more I achieve the less I like to talk about it. When I started teaching and my class did well on a quiz I would shout it from the rooftops, now I rarely share anything in real life. Maybe that is me being a little more mature, or me being a product of my environment. At my school the idea is that if no one gets credit then no one feels left out. Well that is how I see it, but my administration puts it in a way that sounds better. So when I got a phone call from a local newspaper wanting to interview me about getting technology grants for my classroom and the school I was less than thrilled.

The whole process was pure agony. From scheduling the actual interview to my district wanting to censor what I say to the reporter interviewing my eighth grade students. My stomach was in knots for days and was relieved beyond words when it was over.

Then the article came out. It wasn't bad. It was kinda of nice to see my class in the paper since most don't even know what happens in the computer lab. Then I realize that as teachers we should toot our own horn more often.

Even now many are glad to give up a part of their summer break to learn at NECC. We are willing to give up more time to anyone who shows an interest in technology. We are giving up own person time to write grants, set up a wiki, or research resources for others. We are reaching out to our social networks and our PLN because no one in our building "get it."

So take a minute and reflect on the all of the wonderful things you did this past school year. How many students and educators did you help? What were the best projects of the year? Now figure out a way to toot your own horn. Reward yourself with a new gadget, flowers, or even a wonderful ice cream sundae. You deserve it!

What could be better than NECC? The DEN!

Experiencing NECC for the first time this year was amazing. The presentations were top notch, the keynotes thought-provoking, and there seemed to be a million new products that I would love to have in my building. To top it all off, I got to be around the rock stars of the edtech world: Kathy Shrock, Hall Davidson, David Warlick, Vicki Davis, and Steve Dembo. Now after attending the Discovery Education National Institute, it made me realize what was missing from NECC: true collaboration.

We barely got settled in your seats, before we were grouped by regions to re-create the Discovery boom de yada commercial. Being creative wasn't much of a challenge with tech experts, art gurus, and a music teacher that brought these boom sticks. Probably the biggest challenge was to park our egos to really work together. I have to say it was nice to be a team member than the one in charge or doing the project by myself (a common occurance in my school). I got to work my language arts to rhyme, photo skills, and material collection skills.

I got to join breakout sessions on topics that I already had experience in like podcasting and digital storytelling, but it was the discussions that made it worthwhile. Now I have plans to teach digital storytelling with more flexible story design and hopefully a podcasting booth in the back of the room. There is even more excitement at the prospect of adding movie making to my course with supportive materials from AFI.

It has been five days since we parted Discovery Place, but the collaboration has not stopped. The Plurk discussions have allowed us to share ideas and support one another as we try to bring school staffs into web 2.0. It is good to know I am not alone in this battle.

School update: For those following my struggle to bring the school I work at into the 21st century, there is some good news. My principal finally tried the ning and is willing to give it a try next year. A big wOOt! The plans are underway to dedicate the first Professional Development day of the school year to technology sessions. While this will be a lot of work, I think it will be worth it.