Today, people were pouring in from all over the continent and world to ISTE in Philadelphia. That means that the Pennsylvania Conference Center was flooded with incredible, passionate educators. I am lucky enough to know some of them, in real life and through social media, and got to chat, hang out and learn from them today.
Dance Card
Top Three Ideas from the Day (idea via Jennie Magiera)
will change throughout the day
- Ignite presentations are best when the presenter is passionate, asks great questions and looks at things in a new way. I don't care if they have their speech memorized or not.
- How can people of all races and backgrounds show empathy and understanding to others who are being discriminated against?
- The Wonderment is everything. A great initiative run by passionate people. You can sign up to be a Wonder Guide.
After a full day yesterday, my day began with a beautiful stroll through Philadelphia and then the first set of Ignite presentations. I'm pretty sure they stack this one with the all stars, which makes me think that by the time I present mine on Wednesday, there won't be a big crowd. That's definitely a good thing for me. The Ignites were incredibly well attended, there were thousands of people in the room to see the first fourteen five-minute presentations. Here are some things that stuck with me (thank you to Andrew Parent for tweeting some of the best bits, as I was Periscoping several of the presentations!):
Doug Timm - “Your students and work are worth showing off. Everyone has Youtube; create a channel to share with the world and connect to staff, parents and students.”
Mr_JSpike - “Your digital footprint isn’t just what you create, it’s how you conduct yourself online. Treat others with kindness.” (best thing to do to a Youtube troll is visit their channel and leave a positive comment)
Christie Fennewald - “Students rock at PD. They can often identify where teachers need help with tech and design interventions”
Rafranz Davis - “Real change is intentional. Diversity won’t happen by chance. Let everyone see themselves in what we do.” Rafranz's Ignite was so powerful, she was asked to repeat it to open this evening's Keynote presentation!
Global Nomads - they create virtual exchanges, “All students should and can have meaningful cross-cultural exchanges.”
Pernille Ripp - admitted she wouldn’t have wanted to be in her own class, but has made changes. Her honesty and genuine, kind nature make her compelling to listen to. “We cannot change our students, so we must change how we teach.”
I was happy to hear a mix of edtech successes and real world issues mixed into this first set of Ignite presentations. Stories of great things happening in classrooms and people asking hard questions make for terrific learning opportunities.
The rest of the day flew by in a blur. I got to meet many more incredible educators in person, which is endlessly exciting. Even though I've only been here for a day, there are new friendships forming that I am BEYOND excited about. Seeing familiar faces throughout the day makes this feel a tiny bit like a high school reunion. If I went to high school with the most devoted, engaged humans of all time.
The rest of the day flew by in a blur. I got to meet many more incredible educators in person, which is endlessly exciting. Even though I've only been here for a day, there are new friendships forming that I am BEYOND excited about. Seeing familiar faces throughout the day makes this feel a tiny bit like a high school reunion. If I went to high school with the most devoted, engaged humans of all time.
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