New Team Members

This will be an interesting NECC. We have new team members, Harrison B. and Nancy L., coming on board. Harrison will attend NECC with, however Nancy cannot attend this year. I want to be extra careful to document the sessions and workshops I attend so that Nancy can read my blog posts to get a feel for what I am learning.

NECC is such a great opportunity to recharge my batteries and connect with other educators in my PLN as well as meet new people who will become part of my PLN.

This is the first year I have done pre-conference work such as setting up this ISTE Community blog, signed up for BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop Sessions) as well as scanned carefully through the conference planner. My calendar is already filled for the entire conference. There are so many sessions I want to attend and just not enough time!

As President-elect of UCET (Utah Coalition on Educational Technology), so I am going to attend the ISTE affiliate meeting with the incoming UCET President, Paula Wells. We hope to get lots of ideas for the 2010 UCET Conference.

Counting down, only 9 days before we are there!

Twitter Search

It seems ironic to blog about Twitter search. Why not just tweet about it? Well, I did, but more people that I am trying to reach look at my blog than Twitter. So here goes:

Start Twittering, and use Twitter search! Why? Want to find out about what's happening in Iran, the new iPhone, or even with Angelina Jolie? You ain't gonna find that here. But if you join Twitter and use the search box, you will find out more than you ever thought you would know!

Everybody is sending out little messages on Twitter about their favorite topics. Once you search for a topic, you will see a bajillion Tweets, or comments, about that topic. Here's a short video explaining how to use it, click on the following image:
CommonCraft makes fantastic, easy to understand videos! Enjoy.

Blogging at NECC

As NECC approaches, I wanted to get my ISTE community blog set up. My main goals will be to share my NECC experience with others, network with other teachers from around the world, post comments and pictures of my NECC experience, and have a great time.

I have been following the informative daily NECC posts. Each one has interesting ideas that make me think about technology in education. I love these posts! Pick one, any one. You will enjoy it.

• Blogging the Conference: We’ve come a long way in 3 years!

• Suggest a Question to Be Answered by the Panelists of the debate at NECC

• How does your state measure tech literacy?

• Convert PDF files into eBooks
  

• Planning to Create Lots of Great NECC Content? Share it with Us here!

• Congratulations to The Most Popular Guest Bloggers on ISTE Connects

• Attending NECC Virtually

• Schools filtered like totalitarian police states

• Wolfram|Alpha The World’s Most Powerful Knowledge Engine

Only 10 days before we leave! I am so excited!

The Big Split

Coming on July 1st, the Jordan District will split into two districts:

• Jordan District on the west side of the south Salt Lake Valley
• Canyons District on the east side of the valley.

It has been an interesting year as people have left Jordan to start up Canyons. It does feel a bit like a divorce, but I think a fairly amicable divorce.

We all are working for the students so that we continue to provide them with the best educational experiences possible. Although it is sad that I will not see my friends on the east side as often as I have, I look forward to meeting other teachers and students on the west side on the valley.

I think we are going to have a great year on both sides. After all, it is all about the kids!
Good luck Jordan! Good luck Canyons!

Technology Conferences, Twitter

The 2009 5th annual TTIX Conference held at Utah Valley University was a lot of fun. The sessions are all online.

There was a social media contest to crown the next Grand Poo-bah. Here is a picture of the crown the lucky winner will get.

Lots of Twittering going on at TTIX got me to thinking who I follow and why. Here are my favorite groups I follow:

• UENPD
• Smithsonian
• GoogleatWork
• TED
• PBS Teachers

I am now setting my sights on NECC09 in Washington, DC. I am looking forward to sessions on social media, Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, blogging, and Google.

NECC09 - Washington DC

I am really excited about going to NECC this year. I have signed up for some great workshops and look forward to learning more about topics relevant to educational technology.
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