Attending a professional conference reminds me of running a race...the people, the crowds, the excitement, the adrenaline...it's all there. Today was ActivLoudoun. It's a conference put on in our county for our teachers with a focus on technology. The majority of presenters are teachers from the county...they share their ideas and experiences and expertise with technology. I always leave feeling energized and with a pile of new ideas to try and integrate into my teaching next year.
I heard there were 750 attendees today. In our county, school (teacher work days) ended Tuesday...and here we are two days later attending and presenting at a conference! Inspiring!!
This morning started off with remarks of thanks from our superintendent, Dr. Hatrick. He is retiring and I'm sad to see him go, but it was great to have him at the conference. Our incoming superintendent, Dr. Eric Williams welcomed us with a talk about one to the world. He blogs. He tweets. He believes in using technology as a tool for students and teachers. (He may even read this post!) I met and chatted with Dr. Williams today. We spoke about blogging and how to get more teachers to blog.
Speaking of blogging, that was the topic of my presentation this morning. I shared my experience with blogging and why I believe blogging is a vital practice for all teachers. Talking with teachers and sharing with them always inspires me.
After my presentation, I got to see the amazing Steven Anderson from Blogging about the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom. He shared Class Flow with us. It's a cloud based platform for teachers. It makes things so easy to upload documents and videos all to one place. We got to play a bit and I had so much fun! It's definitely something I'm going to learn and implement into my class next year.
I also got to attend a session on the Google Classroom. It's not done yet...hopefully by September...but oh my goodness, I can't believe the capabilities it has! If you have used Google Docs for anything in the classroom, you won't believe how much EASIER this will make your life. It organizes for you. It streamlines communication. It gives you a place to put a grade on assignments. I'm hooked! I can't wait until I can use this tool...the possibilities are endless!
See, that's what I mean...I finished packing up my classroom two days ago and tonight my brain is buzzing with ideas for next year. Today, I'm proud to say I am a teacher. I'm proud to say I teach in Loudoun County! Looking forward to ActivLoudoun next year!
Today was an amazing day. It is the first year I have not presented. I got to be part of the behind the scenes portion of the day. I love seeing the excitement of so many teachers sharing, learning and developing their professional networks.
ReplyDeleteGlad that you were able to take in some sessions, as well as present. ALP was the brain child of Barb Gruber, and with the help of people like Heather and presneters like you it has grown in a great event. Thanks again for presenting. LCPS is lucky to have such wonderful educators.
ReplyDeleteYay!
ReplyDeleteYesterday's conference illustrates the truth of the saying, "the answers are in the room." Blogging about your insights is another means of sharing answers with colleagues inside and outside the school division. Thanks for demonstrating the importance of sharing via blogging, tweeting, presenting, etc. I look forward to continuing to learn from you.
ReplyDeleteI love the picture!! Thanks for the heads-up about Google Classroom. How exciting! That's great that you got to present about blogging. We know how wonderful it is, don't we?!
ReplyDeleteYour district sounds like they are on the ball with technology and innovation. Thanks for sharing and connecting!
ReplyDeleteOur superintendent, who was new to us last year, is a blogger and tweeter. What a difference he's made in our district as far as getting teachers connected. Your conference sounds amazing. Now, I've got some more things to look into. I love using Google, so it will be interesting to learn more about Google Classroom.
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