teachwatts: January 2010

So one of my goals for this school year was to finally have the courage to speak at a conference. Although I have attended quite a few technology conferences lately, I have lurked in the back row quietly as I have attempted to soak in all the knowledge around me. I decided it might finally be time to try my hand at the EARCOS conference or a much smaller conference somewhere and start to get my feet wet.

Yeah, well that was a good idea, . . . now talk to me in about a week. I am about to help host an EARCOS Conference workshop titled TechTrain 2010 at ISB this weekend. I will not be doing a nice one to two hour presentation, but running workshops all weekend long on RSS feeds, blogs, Google Docs, wikis, and Twitter. Nothing like starting small. I am a nervous wreck. It is going to be amazing, because I won't sleep until I feel it is amazing (I have been up since 2 am and it is currently going on 11 pm). It will be amazing because I am lucky enough to be working with some of the finest colleagues in the field of education: Tara Ethridge, Dennis Harter, Kim Cofino and Chrissy Hellyer. Our goal is to introduce teachers to a selection of educationally and developmentally appropriate technology tools that will enhance learning in the classroom and beyond. Basically, it is a technology conference for beginners, and I can't wait to get started. It was just a few years ago that I walked into a workshop at an EARCOS conference and was inspired by some guy named Jeff Utecht. Little did I know what that spark would ignite in me; hopefully, I can continue to pass on that torch.