For the past 5 months I have eagerly awaited the end of June. Not for the usual teacher reasons but because I was given an opportunity to attend ISTE14 in Atlanta.
While I was excited about the opportunities for learning and seeing the latest of edtech gadgets, ISTE2014 could possibly be a once in a lifetime chance for me to meet and connect face to face with many of the dedicated educators that I know and love. You see, I am a part of an amazing community of truly global educators that share, learn, collaborate and connect on a daily basis! I am part of the Global Classroom Project!
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| Connecting with the Classroom Champions Crew! |
Attending ISTE14 gave me the opportunity to meet
Lisa Parisi, Donna Roman and Toni Oliveri-Barton all of whom I have personally
connected with. My students have also forged relationships with their classes
as we explored several of the same novels this year, meeting on Edmodo to
connect and discuss. We also developed our blogging and commenting skills
through two Quadblog challenges.
I was also fortunate to meet Preston and Wezie
Morgan, who I have chatted with and connected with for the last few years.
One of the pivotable moments of ISTE14 was
meeting my dear friend Karen Stadler, the creator of The Travelling Rhino
Project! Karen won this years’ ISTE On line Learning award, and came to Atlanta
from Cape Town, South Africa! Karen and I have been friends for three years,
connecting both through her project, and through Global Classroom chats. I was
honoured to attend the ISTE Award Winners Luncheon as Karen’s guest. There was
nowhere else I would have rather been!
I believe that my biggest take away from ISTE14
was something that I already knew……teaching and learning is about
relationships not gadgets. Students and teachers do not learn in a vacuum and
even the most high tech classrooms will not increase learning if students do
not feel valued and connect with you.
Connecting and building relationships are the keys to success, both for learners and educators.
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| Meeting Peter Reynolds!! |
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| Meeting Matt Gomez |
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| Toni and me |
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| Adore Krissy Vensodale |
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| Meeting Chompy at the DEN Birthday Bash! What ways do you connect to build relationships with and for your students? |
Thank you my dear friend for including me in this lovely reflection of your ISTE2014 experience. I was so privileged to have you share in my experiences and of course, my award! For me ISTE was ALL about connections and relationships and I am so honoured to have met the wonderful people from my PLN. It was a very special time. I do hope to have this opportunity again sometime.
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