My first ISTE experience has been amazing. It is unbelievable to be surrounded by so many educators who are excited and dedicated to teaching students and using technology. I definitely felt overwhelmed when I first arrived. Special thanks to some ISTE veterans and colleagues @kathymaske, @judymilleville, and @mkratzer for helping me get acquainted. I was also very excited to get the chance to meet some of the people that I follow on twitter like @kylepace, @bethstill, and @shellterrell. ISTE has inspired me to:
Unlock the potential in myself:
Following the #iste11 stream was overwhelming. It is wonderful to be connected to so many people who are sharing the information that they are receiving. I quickly got into the habit of favorite-ing the tweets with links that I wanted to go back and check. I know I still missed a lot of great resources but the great thing is that #ISTE11 is filled with so many resources that even though I missed a lot, I still game back with so much valuable information. I gained so many great resources and ideas that I can't wait to start putting them to go use.
Unlocking the potential in my staff:
Twitter is by far the most valuable professional development tool that I have used. Every time I go to a conference that involves back channeling, I am reminded how much I am learning from the other people around me. I wish more Lutheran educators and educators in my school would understand the vast number of resources available through Twitter and other social networking such as Diigo. I want to continue to show other teachers how they can learn and save time collecting resources, like using the wonderful lesson plans and ideas from Tammy Worcester @tammyworcester available on her website www.tammyworcester.com or the 60 web tools from Brandon Lutz @blutz01 available on his website at 60in60.wikispaces.com/ISTE2011.
Unlocking the potential in my students:
I have also been inspired to help my students reach their potential. Dr. Covey's keynote about the 7 habits of highly effective people helped me to see the kinds of things we should be teaching our students. I also can't wait to see my new preschoolers next year use some of the new apps that I learned about from Shell Terrell (website). Watching them develop their language skills and collaboration through apps such as Puppet Pals where they can create and record their own puppet play.
