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!

I <3 Grants!

Like most educators during this part of year there is a combination of the desire for the year to come to an end and reflection. This year I had to add an element to my end-of-the-year routine and that was finishing grant requirements. Even this post is me avoiding the four more lessons that I have to finish for my grant that got me a set of clickers. I was proud that I sent in my invoices and wrote my article for my MICCA grant that funded video cameras for my 8th graders to tryout the AFI curriculum. I am extremely grateful that the Best Buy grant has no additional required elements. 

While I realize that grants are a lot of work, I also realized that I love grants! Of course free money is a plus when a new era of spending freezes and budget cuts, but that is not the main reason why I love grants so much. Everytime I applied for a  new grant this year it caused to me evaluate the needs of my classroom and the school. The grant writing process forced me to develop innovative projects that would stand out in piles of other application. Most of all winning the grant has forced me to work on the project. I'll admit that I am one of those that come up with a million ideas, but only really work on a few. I learned so much by having to do my ideas and to make them work.

Well I couldn't stop with the end of the school year. Right now I am waiting out the last two days of voting on the We Are Teachers Summer Learning Microgrant. This has been a totally different experience because I had to enlist help from my PLN, students, colleagues, and anyone I could think of to get enough votes to stay in the top 10. The compeitive side of me wants to win just because, but more importantly I look forward to doing this project. I still have hope for my staff entering the 21st century and I keeping trying new things to bring them on board. If you get a chance check out the site please do so. Even if you vote for another project, you are supporting a great idea by a lot of great teachers.

My Blogiversary!

I figured this was an event worth celebrating. One main reason is that I stuck to blogging for an entire year even though some busy months had one entry. So much has happened technology-wise to me in the past year that I can't hardly believe. I thought I would run through the highlights:

1. I went from not knowing what Web 2.0 was to giving presentations on it.

2. I became a presenter: scary and amazing at the same time.

3. I became social with Twitter, Plurk, Ning, and Facebook. Great for me, but not so good for my schedule. I really don't know where I would be without my PLN!

4. I became a Google Certified Teacher. The title is great, but I love the connections to great educators and I learn to love Google tools.

5. I became a  grant winner times three: Turning Technologies, MICCA, and Best Buy. It can be a lot of work, but the payoff is so worth it.

There are some exciting things on the horizon, along with new challenges. I look forward to it all and another year of blogging. Lastly, thanks goes out to anyone who has read or added comments to my blog.