Photo #210/365: The Reform Symposium Conference

For the second year in a row, I attended a three day conference with educators from around the world. For the opening keynote, I participated in a presentation from Finland with two Finnish educators. Next I learned about using technology in the teaching of literacy from an educator in England. I participated with 46 other educators in a session about iPads here in the United States. I got to hear one of my friends, Henrietta Miller, speak about providing professional development to colleagues about technology. She is a teacher in Sydney, Australia. I really enjoyed hearing the Couras brothers, who are Canadian educators, talk about collaboration.



I did all of this with out spending a dime, or leaving my house. The Reform Symposium or RSCON3 is an on-line conference. So I traveled there via computer, but I was able to comment, ask questions, hear their voices, see their whiteboard presentation, and in some cases, watch them present. It uses Elluminate. These two photos are screen shots of what I was able to see during parts of this presentation.

If you ever get a chance to do this, go for it! It is an incredible experience.

Photo #85/365: Edcamp Omaha

Today's photos had to come from Edcamp Omaha. It was my first time to attend something like this, and it was a wonderful experience. I drove to Omaha this morning, leaving by 6:30 A.M. and arriving at the Thompson Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha by 9. The first hour was an opportunity to meet many people that previously I had known only from Twitter. It was also time for people who wanted to present to sign up for the sessions they wanted to do.



My first session that I chose to attend was a review of favorite iPad and iPod apps. There were lots of good ideas here. The second one I went to was called Web 2.0 Smackdown. This is Kristina Peters presenting. The really neat thing about the format of these sessions was the collaborative presentation. The person presenting would start things off, but then they would invite others to add to the presentation with their own ideas.



There were so many great ideas for apps and websites, that I could hardly type fast enough to get everything bookmarked and copied into notes. I will write more about this on my blog, "Day In the Classroom."



It was a wonderful day with fantastic people, not to mention, having a great lunch out. It was a day of meeting people that I have talked to via Twitter but never met face to face, and making completely new friends. I would definitely do this again!

Photo #52/365: Bus Ride

Today was our all day professional development which takes place downtown, and I took my annual bus ride on the city bus. The bus stop is just around the corner from my house, so it's lots easier than looking for a place to park and paying for a parking place. I definitely got some exercise since all my sessions were in Hy-Vee Hall and the bus dropped me off on Walnut street.

The sessions I attended were good. I got to hear Jamie Fath talk about technology and Ann Marie Corgill talk about teaching writing. I also listened to our superintendent, Dr. Sebring talk about things going on in our district. She is always an excellent speaker, but it's pretty depressing hearing about NCLB, failing schools, and the budget.