Pre - ISTE Blog

I can't believe that this is really happening. After years of researching and drooling over the ISTE conference, I am on a plane going to San Antonio for the ISTE conference. I couldn't be more excited ( ok, quite frankly, overwhelmed!). I have read blog after blog for tips and tricks of what to do and what not to do, that I think I am ready. But are you ever really ready for a educational technology conference with 18,000 people?

I have a few goals that I hope to accomplish while attending ISTE 2013.

1. SCHOOL: St. James Academy loves iMovie, honestly, what's not to love? You can create, act, and edit video for a great finished product. But as we all know, too much of a good thing is not good. We use them all of the time, and they are becoming the norm instead of the exception. Find a comparable program or project type to access the same higher levels thinking skills but in a different way.
2. SCHOOL: This is my third year as a technology coach at SJA and I haven't accomplished many of the goals that I set for myself three years ago. Find or learn about a tool or resource that I can take back to help me show my coworkers what I can help them with in their classrooms.
3. SCHOOL: A couple of years ago, I attended a smaller technology conference called MACE and learned about a classroom blog. I thought that it was a great thing for student who are absent, especially in mathematics but I have never tried it or really knew how to get started or how to implement. Find examples of high school classrooms and learn about how to get started and do's and not do's.
4. PERSONAL: Be a sponge! With this being my first ISTE conference, I really have no idea of how much I am going to learn. I know that it is going to be a lot of info. Find 2 things that I can try/use within my own classes in the upcoming school year. (I know that I will find way more than 2!)

Another goal is to keep this blog current throughout the conference and even after! The best resources to an educator are the tips and tricks learned by other educators in the field. I want to make a contribution (no matter how small) to a field that I love am and am passionate about!

If this is your first time going to ISTE (and even if it's not) what are you most looking forward to?