MAKER BOT

After spending a week in Wilmington, NC...I realize that Middle School teachers are so fun to work with!  I had the pleasure of working in Pender County sharing strategies and usage of DE in their classrooms..
My big AHA...was watching the 3D printer being set up...this got ALL MY curosity cells excited and now I can't wait to get to FETC and listen to the CEO of MAKER BOT...and also present THE biggest user with my friends as a featured presentation!!

Ronald McDonald is the devil...

I find it ironic that the McDonald Corporation is attempting to get in to educational activities while feeding our students junk.
The golden arches is an icon of poison for our children...there is nothing that is good, except maybe using the indoor playground for activity.

ipadio.com

Just found Stephen Barkley!

What a phenomenal resource Stephen Barkley is! He has been coaching for over 30 years and is a delightful, energetic speaker who spoke at our Discovery week long training held in Miami, Florida. I have bought his latest book and can't wait to dive it! (Unfortunately, its only available on the Kindle and alas, I have a color nook!)
Getting ready to see old friends tonight and all week at METC and of course, meet some new ones... LOVE this conference because I get to see all the local favs and share stories, plus sleeping in my own bed is an added feature!
Just got back from spending a week in Hawaii, working with some great schools on Oahu! They are doing good work and so proud to be adding to their learning and they are also teaching me!

JUNE IS HERE!

Um, I could come up with a million excuses why I haven't been blogging, but I won't..let's just say I'm gonna dust myself off, and start all over again!
Just got back from a great workshop in Billings, Montana! I had the privilege of working with a stellar group of educators at the University of Billings for two days and it was a great learning adventure! Bonus round went to dinner with Darren Hudgins of Oregon, who is just too cool for school! We had a great time chatting and chewing while attempting to wait for our esteemed friend Rushton to make his way...flight delayed, flight delayed again, plane changes,and then viola at 10:45 he appears! Note: Do NOT rely on airport signs, stick with the internet as a reliable resource!
My biggest aHA...flubaroo.com If you thought self graded exams was cool..you ain't seen nuthin yet!

Before February passes me by....

You know that goal of blogging regularly and taking the time to reflect? Well, it didn't happen in February at all. I decided I had more important things to do and I shall challenge myself in March to reflect more often on my learning and growing..
Highlights of February included a wonderful grouping of stellar conferences that I presented and attended and more importantly met new friends that make me think.
My favorite is David Zach, from Milwaukee. He is a futurist that keynoted at the ITSC conference in Oregon and really gave a good talk. I hope to carry on more conversations with him when he travels to St. Louis soon...yep, face to face conversations are always the best!
I also worked online with some great teachers in Maryland with Google Earth and their STEM project. Garmins are fitting in well with their curriculum and I'm looking forward to seeing some of their final projects!
I was also able to work face to face with some great teachers in Illinois and Florida. Ok, I have to admit, the weather was stellar in Florida and it was also my birthday...what a gift it was NOT to wear a coat!!!

More Google Educators in Canada!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

WOW, Never in my wildest dreams did I think 2010 was going to be that FANTASTIC!!!

I was able to learn so much and teach so much and travel so much...well, let's just say all my original goals were blown away!!

I think that 2011 is going to be another stellar adventure with just glancing at January alone..

Silver Springs, Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, Orlando...yep..suitcase, laptop and brain ready to learn, explore and most of all ....ENJOY!!

Just One of the COOL KIDS!

This coming FETC 2011 is going to be EPIC! I've heard from many of my friends and seems to be the place to be in January! (OK, Florida in January--anybody see a problem?)
So, this year I'm a spotlight speaker sharing the stage with Steve Dembo in THE BIGGEST USER, SEASON TWO...so excited to have a chance to share some great tools with educators...
Hope to see you there!!

Ladies in my Life...

Every once in a while, both Laurens come into town and I NEVER get to spend enough time with either one of them.

These ladies have such big brains and hearts and I can't wait to see all they accomplish with their chosen fields.

They are such fun to play with...hope they show up again soon!

Take me out to the TIGER'S game!

Comerica park is extraordinary! Contrary to what Shannon thinks, even though I was sporting my 2006 Cardinals/Tigers World Series hat, no one gave me trouble! In fact, I found the crowd to be very knowledgeable

and friendly. They even talked about baseball players that used to play for Detroit!

I learned that Yadia Molina (catcher for the Cardinals) actually has TWO other brothers that are catchers for baseball teams. One actually plays on the Texas Rangers team and they won the game!

Detroit is in a serious slump, but I'm not! Life is always good, and especially awesome if I can get to a baseball game!

SECOND GREATEST DAY EVER!

The 1st GREATEST day of my instructional technology career was becoming a Google Certified Teacher in 2008 out in Mountain View, CA and meeting all of my wonderful colleagues who share my passion.

The 2nd GREATEST day ever was meeting up with them again at ISTE 2010 in Denver, Colorado! Molly(my lovely blonde colleague) and Colette (my gorgeous brunette colleague) and I were working the Google Booth throughout the conference. Funny that Google Earth is showing above us, because THAT is what I was sharing at the Google Theatre and helping passerbys to understand the value and instructional wealth of resources GE has to offer. What an inspiring wonderful memory ISTE 2010 has given me. I have so many new friends and old friends to cherish and reflect upon!

MY DEPD PLN and more!

The weather is wonderful, the coworkers are stellar and yes, believe it or not we're working hard! California is another great learning time!

Zipling is the most fun you can have!

This is my favorite picture of my favorite day in Hawaii with my family. We are in the middle of ziplining in Hawi and having the best time ever. I can't remember ever having this much fun with my family. What an adventure we had and I can't wait to do it again!!

President Obama LISTEN UP!!

Ok, we voted you into office because many of us believed you would make a difference! Here is your opportunity to show us you will.
WE NEED MORE EDUCATONAL TECHNOLOGY IN EVERY CLASSROOM IN EVERY SCHOOL ACROSS ALL FIFTY STATES NOW!
Please write your congressman or check out iste.org for more information.

BEST DAY EVER!!

Just finished sharing some GOOGLE GOODIES with Discovery Education and Comcast! Talk about fun! While I was sharing Google Image Swirl, Timeline, Google Squared, etc everyone was collaborating in the chat box about ways to use them...it was a Great Collaboration with a wonderful variety of teachers from across the United States and Canada! Over 76 people joined the party tonight and I hope we get the chance to meet face to face someday...but meanwhile, I'm on my computer having fun sharing all my google goodies and THAT made it the best day ever!

George said it best..............

I'm playing inside Google Labs, and this is called the Google Reader Play...and so I did...they randomly give you different pictures or videos that are fairly interesting...but this quote from George Bernard Shaw captured my heart...Yep, it IS all about creating yourself...Its something I get to do every day and I'm loving it!!!

Kim and I are Discovery Education PD trainers, roomates and friends..I love playing and working with her! Although she is based in California, thanks to twitter and assorted other web 2.0 tools, she is moments away from any conversation! Thanks for showing me how much fun the water can be...I still have a lot to learn!!

A classic example of why we should NOT average testing...and while we are on the topic of the "season" of testing...ugh..its ugly out there... and I have one question that I bet NO ONE CAN ANSWER.

Are all of these tests a valid assessment of the student (and teacher)?

EPIC HAWAIIAN ADVENTURE!

Spent a week in Hawaii working with great Teachers -- showing them the power of Discovery Education products and got some serious play time with my family too!

The best day was spent zip lining through the rain forest..a total of EIGHT zip lines and a total BLAST! I have videos of my family running off of a cliff on the last zip line. . It was such a great day!

Loved being in Hawaii, love my job (obviously) and love my family, they are great fun to be with!