I'm Technically Speaking

Coming off of a very "maker" centered conference, it make me want to continue to make things and be creative! And I would love to be able to make some posters or packets that teachers could use in their classrooms (that I could eventually sell). Using one of my favorite tools, Canva , I went to work to create a poster with some learning from my time at Podstock. Here is what I came up with from a part of my notes from the session  Early and Often A Daily Dose of Digital Ethics. I even was brave enough to share it on Twitter and now with you! What do you think?

I travel alone a lot when attending conferences. Not that I do not have any friends or want to go at it alone, it just is the nature of my position. I'm not a part of a large district, in fact I will have two others in my department next year. However, that has allowed (maybe forced) me to meet new people. And this last conference was no different. To be honest, that new connection with these two ladies below was worth every penny (out of my pocket) to attend this conference. Meet my wonderful new friends: Beth Bryan (@bethabryan) and Tana Venturino (@tventurino). These two ladies are recipients of a Fund for Teachers grant. The grant will cover Maker Movement centered professional development this summer and will take them from Wichita's Podstock to Burlington (Vermont), NYC, and Boston.  You can follow their adventures on their blog Two STEAM Ahead  (and you might see a familiar face in Day 2). I can't wait to see what they learn!! When I look back on several pas...

Final day of Podstock = 3 hour sessions and a closing keynote Session 1: Gamification: Your Course, One Game, Real Life I appreciated that this session lead by example. As we entered the room we were greeted with traditional lei and welcomed to our trip to Bermuda. In the session background (on screen) was a video of funny plane attendant announcements. The session began with a video of a flight and plane crash. Finding ourselves now on the Bermuda island, we are faced with several challenges and feats. Each feat we faced involved us applying what we learned to our classroom. My notes for this session are here . Session 2: Making the Makers - The Role of STEM in the K-8 Classroom The focus of this session was on the roll of failing. I really liked this quote: "Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." To put this to the test, we were given an opportunity to ....fail. We were given this... What is it? What do you do with it? ...

The started off with an awesome keynote address staring Ginger Lewman. My notes from this session can be found here . Session 1: Wearables (for short) The presentation link is  https://goo.gl/wrG8m9 Best information gathered was learning how to cheaply acquire LED, batteries, and other materials. It was fun to play with the materials from this session, but I found myself wishing that I had brought a "wearable" to have decorated. And wishing for more info and hands on time with the Gemma and Flora options for wearables.  Session 2: pi a la mode Raspberry Pi --an affordable computer that can be programmed In this session we viewed the Python Programming and worked with a Raspberry Pi. It continues to intrigue me, but there still is much to be learned before taking the jump to fork over the $90 for a starter kit. I'm sure the learning could/would happen upon the purchase, however, this seems very advanced.  Session 3: Embrace Your Inner MacGaver In the e...

Podstock PreCon STEAM S -science T -tinkering E -engenering A -aesthetics M -mathamatics The goal today... Make/build something that you are proud of....And have a maker mindset Modules included: Fabrics and wearable Music tech Robotics Coding Electricity & circuitry 3D model & printing Wind energy Rocketry & fluid dynamics Textiles Here are the things I made: 1. Steampunk shirt using bleach 2. Steampunk laptop "cover" 3. Hummingbird Robotics Project *Thankful for my new friends working with me on this project! The picture on the right shows our program for the lights to come on. 4. I played with 3D printing software - Tynkercad and watched 3D printers in action. 5. I helped a friend create a potato bag and others understand what a potato bag is :) Other learning-- I found that I chose the first projects based on comfort. E...

"Osmo is Awesomo" - Ema age 8. A year ago at ISTE, is when I first saw this device in action. At that time each of the "games" were being sold separately and I was not excited about that. I was again face to face with this device at a conference this year. However, they now sell the device, tangram pieces, and letter set all together in a starter kit. Add to that a buy one and get one to donate to the school of your choice and I was sold! I love having devices that I can learn and train others with! This deal allowed me to have one personally and one for my kiddos school! If you are interested in purchasing, you can find out more here . My almost 3rd grader (pause for a mom moment of her baby growing up).....loves the Tangrams. I'll have to admit I like it too. My almost 8th grader (double pause on that one), enjoyed (a little too much) the competition of Words. Both girls enjoyed Words, but to play together without me for these competitive girl...