I'm Technically Speaking

ISTE is a great experience! It is exhausting, exciting, overwhelming....time. I always feel some pressure to learn as much as I can and bring home lots of new ideas (especially when it costs nearly $1500 to send me). However, it really is about like trying to drink from a hydrant! Photo Credit: http://www.linneyville.com/2009/04/how-to-unclog-a-garbage-disposal/ Add to that feeling....coming home to move! Thankfully this is what I saw first upon my arrival:  One balloon says "Welcome Home!" and the other "Happy Anniversary". I could come home to this anytime :) Especially when this is what basically what I could see everywhere else I looked: Boxes everywhere! We had one and a half days upon my return to finish packing. Home at 10pm on Tuesday and moving on Thursday afternoon. And then with every move is the changing of services, unpacking, etc. So, I will continue to "unpack" this year's ISTE learning as well as unpack my...

I would like to thank iSound ! iSound gave me not one, but two iPad cases! One is a black DuraGuard Durable Case for an iPad. I am excited to add this to my examples of available case options for iPads that I use with my Instructional Technology course (and protect another of our iPads). The other case is a red DuraView Case for an iPad mini. This version has a sliding kickstand case. I am not sure whether to let my husband have this for his iPad mini or hold out for him purchasing me one :) Both cases come with screen protectors and have a fun slick silicone feel. I like the added kickstand on the mini. I wonder if it might double as a handle when using for presentations. Thanks iSound!

Thank you DOTZ ! I had a blast meeting C. K. Tan and his family! This is a family run company and was in its debut at ISTE! He gave me one of his DotzBooks and some of the Dotz! These rubbery dotz have a similarity to legos. Pictured to the left is an example of the DotzBook that I have at home to play with. Although I haven't had much time due to my kids playing with it! This has been a hit with my kids!! Although, my eldest has yet to remove the previously created "creeper" (as seen in photo above) and was beyond pumped when I brought it home. The notebook may not look like much at first, but add the Dotz and let the fun begin! You can create any design for your notebook, iPhone case, or iPad mini case. The image to the left is from the Dotz website with a few examples. I think that you could easily make your Dotz into base-ten pieces or work on counting. I also wonder about tangram pieces or other manipulative "shapes". You could absolu...

Each year of ISTE I enter the Expo and am amazed at the size and noise! It is easy to get overwhelmed and loose track of time. Some exhibitors will pull you into conversation, some exhibits will catch your attention, and some you will plan to visit. Photo credit: https://isteconference.org/2014/expo/ Some people enter to win free stuff. Some will enter every drawing, some specific ones, and others do not participate. Others will take freebies from each. Each and everyone has their own purpose and plan for their visit. And you need some sort of plan when the floor plan looks like this: I personally like to gain a couple t-shirts and have specific exhibits that I want to visit. My husband also had a request for me to look into for him.  I've also learned that if you time a visit toward closing that you can get your hands on some "good" free stuff. I will follow this post up with two specific thank you posts, but for now.... Thank you #1: iSound Dura Gua...

Last day of ISTE! Today started off with Six Ways Teachers and Students Can Make an App. I've been interested in making an app and so I thought I'd see what I could learn. This session covered lots of methods/tools and were from easy to hard. Here are my link  to my notes. After getting all "appy" it was off to learn more about digital citizenship in "Digital Citizenship, Now what?". This was a panel session with several knowledgable presenters. It was filled with tips and tricks. Here are the notes I was then off to a session that I started but didn't finish. Sometimes they aren't going the direction you want and you can move on! Instead of this session I wandered through the posters and then made my way through the Expo.  I couldn't have been happier that I did that when I had the chance to meet this guy This is cybraryman! I've connected with him on Twitter and he has a page for about everything! I wanted to have a ph...