The past 3 days have been a whirlwind. The International Society for Technology in Education Conference (ISTE) was in town and I was one of the 16,000 attendees! There were educators from around the world - teachers, teacher librarians, administrators, and other school professionals who all spoke the same language- technology. There were hundreds of sessions offered every day and it was a struggle to decide which ones to go to. Of course there was a nifty app that the conference provided that helped me locate the sessions, favorite them, and even save presentations and electronic handouts in a virtual toolbox. My toolbox is packed full! It was very overwhelming, humbling and exciting to learn about all the innovative ways educators are engaging students and helping them achieve with the assistance of technology. I hope that I can implement a fraction of what I learned!
On a whim (and possibly because it involved some free schwag) I decided to volunteer at the conference. I was assigned to the perfect job for me, the people pleaser. For two hours today I passed out free ice cream in the lobby! You can imagine the wonderfully warm smiles that I received while passing out delicious frozen treats!
I could go on and on about the great experience I had and some of the people, that I met. Don't even get me started on the Exhibit Hall! All of the companies that specialize in technology or education that you can imagine were there. However, the more booths there are, the more free schwag there was to be had!
I feel recharged and enthusiastic about the school year ahead and will hopefully reach into that toolbox and create some great ways to help kids learn. Don't get me wrong...I still need a little more summer vacation to really get revved up! But when I do report back to work in August, I will accept the challenge that the closing speaker, Michelle Cordy -an awesome 3rd grade teacher from Ontario brought forward. I will "Show up and refuse to leave!"
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