My #ISTE12 Reflection, Part 1

What had the most impact on me this past week, and what memories will be most prominent from this week? What new goals will I set as a result of this week? Here they are, not in any particular order.

Linda Yollis & Kathleen Morris

1. Educational Blogging: Flattening Classroom Walls by Linda Yollis and Kathleen Morris I am always inspired and in awe of these two women. They have made such an impact on me, so to see them present together live was absolutely incredible, especially since this week was the first time they had met face to face! Their stellar session was filled with powerful tips, incredible resources, while providing powerful examples of what can evolve out of blogging.

To highlight a few tips:

Linda, Kath, Sue Wyatt, Sue Waters, me, Ronnie, Julie, Anne, John

• Start small. Blogging is a journey.
• Use your content objectives to focus your posts. This way blogging doesn't become an add-on to try to fit in, but rather part of your literacy block.
• Make connections with other classes by leaving quality comments. Be genuine, and go back and visit those classes again.
• QuadBlogging and the Student Blogging Challenge are great ways to get your blog started and have an authentic audience.

My goal: I intend on continuing to share the benefits of blogging with my district. I'll continue to differentiate for those who are ready to start, and for those ready to pursue original global projects via blogging.

Dinner with Kathleen, Linda, & me

2. I had the privilege of rooming with Linda Yollis and absolutely loved our conversations and getting to know her better. It was the first time I met her face to face, and she is as dynamic in person as she is online.

It was also thrilling to watch Linda and Kathleen together. They are so passionate and dedicated! It was also a joy to watch them work on the final touches of their presentation behind the scenes.

Day 1 & Day 2 Sue Wyatt, Sue Waters, Ronnie Burt, & me

3. I absolutely loved being involved with Sue Wyatt's Student Blogging Challenge Poster Session! While the Poster Session was originally only scheduled for Sunday evening, we also got to do it again on Monday!

My goal: I will make sure our AJUSD Prospector University (where we have various classes and teachers elect to sign up for the PD they are interested in) offers the Edublogs Teacher Challenge starting in mid-August to prepare them for the September Student Blogging Challenge. I also will need to survey my Collaboration Coaches to see how many are interested in my helping team teach in their classrooms with blogging, then set up the calendar to block off time for me to be in their rooms.

4. Lisa Dabb's Collaborative Mentoring for New Students panel session stood out for me. This session was filled with amazing resources and tips by the stellar panel:

• Lisa Dabbs: Her passion for mentoring new teachers was very evident. I loved the idea of online support in addition to the face-to-face. Furthermore, it provided new teachers with places to search for answers and support when they needed it. I hadn't realized that there were online mentors dedicated to helping new teachers. 
• Steven Anderson: I really liked his idea of using Edmodo and Twitter to connect with his new teachers and help them with the tools they needed and used in the classroom.
• Mary Beth Hertz: Her idea of EdCamp, which was an unconference based on collaboration, sounded fabulous!
• Patrick Larkin: I appreciated how he reminded us that building relationships and trust so it is part of the culture was the foundational piece. Furthermore, we needed to model what we wanted to see.
• Shannon Miller: She's a librarian who spends much of her time in classrooms and not the library! She invested in her teachers and students!
• Dean Mantz: Certified LoTi mentor. Mentors needed supportive online communities also.
• Erin Klein: I appreciated her transparency in reminding us that new teachers have so many questions that online support to help when face-to-face wasn't available was a necessity. She also shared some of her favorite apps: 1) Photon Flash Player (flash for iPad); 2) Animoto (digital storytelling and video); 3) Educreations (interactive whiteboard and screen recording app).

My goal: I want to invest in the those involved with new teachers in my district. We use our Diigo Network closely, so that might be one route to help them connect. I also want to share some of the online resources that's available to them.

5. Chris Lehmann's "Beyond Google, Building Conditions for Structured Inquiry" was an exceptionally powerful session. Some tips and resources:

• An example of inquiry based lesson in history.
• Inquiry included personalization through choice, relevance, & empowerment. It happens by caring, planning, & assessing. 
• "What is the worst consequence of your best idea?"
• Build a calendar for their benchmark projects so all teachers are aware of the big PBLs going on.
• David Warlick's notes were fabulous.

My goal: I need share more of this idea of authentic inquiry to help mold their PBL. This fits perfectly with many of the resources we use in our district such as the Learning Activity Checklist and Lesson Improvement Questions.

Final thoughts

I'll continue this post in My #ISTE12 Reflection, Part 2 next time. This post was filled with oodles of links to go back and revisit and goals to pursue.

• Whether you went to ISTE or not, you are learning. What new things are you learning/thinking about?
• What goals have you made based on what you are learning?
• How else does this post connect with you?