Sorry we have been MIA for a while, yet we were recovering from #ISTE18...still not sure if we have fully recovered from 5 days of edtech gloriousness! We were both blessed to get to attend ISTE this year for the FIRST TIME! We were so pumped and we had the time of our life learning new edtech tools, mingling and meeting new PLN, meeting some of our FAVORITE authors and twitter stars, and meeting some of the people behind our favorite edtech companies. This post could be SUPER long so we decided to break it down a bit to shorten it up. Keep reading and enjoy!
THE PEOPLE WE FANGIRLED OVER:
Kasey Bell:
Holly Clark & Kasey Bell (again):
Mike Matera:
Tara Martin:
Marlena Hebern & Jon Corippo:
Bethany Petty:
Shawn and Devin Young, Creators of Classcraft:
Creators of Quizizz:
STEPH’S TOP 3 FAVORITE THINGS LEARNED:
1.Sown to Grow: Alright so, this was one of my first ISTE sessions and I left the session blown away and excited about this amazing tool! Sown to Grow is a free online resource to help STUDENTS track their learning and growth in your class, as well as reflect on their learning and growth. Rupa Gupta presented this amazing site (her brain child) and is so committed to helping students improve! One of my favorite parts is its integration into Google Classroom - yesss!
2.Digital Citizenship: Technology has taken the education world by storm and digital citizenship seems to be the piece that some have forgotten. ISTE certainly has not. Digital citizenship was front and center of conversation. Google’s ‘Be Internet Awesome’ initiative and resources were highlighted at the Google for Education booth and I’m excited they have made this topic accessible to our youngest students! Being safe and responsible on the internet is something all of our students need to learn because, let’s face it, our world is only getting more and more connected and reliant on the internet!
3.Student Centered Classrooms: Along with the rise of edtech is increase in teachers abilities to personalize learning and center their classrooms around student interests and curiosities. A common thread of many presentations, poster sessions and conversations was giving control of learning to the students. Hopefully educators are moving in the direction of giving students the power over their education
JESS’ TOP 3 FAVORITE THINGS LEARNED:
1.EDUProtocols: We have read (and blogged) about the book “EDUProtocols” already, yet Steph and I decided to attend the session. Seeing the Protocols used and watching the authors (Jon & Marlena) present was beyond amazing and inspirational. I had my book out and was taking notes on sticky notes and placing the notes within my book. I CAN NOT wait to implement the protocols into my teaching this Fall, even more so after their presentation.
2.Flocabulary lyric lab: I recently became a MCE (Master Certified Educator) for Flocabulary so I spent a lot of time socializing with them and attending their sessions and events. When using the lyric lab students can create their own raps, beats are provided, and even rhyming words to help the students. It also encourages students to use the academic vocabulary from the topic they are writing their rap for. SO COOL! We made a rap about how It’s Poppin’ In Chicago!
3.Seesaw: Okay, I am new to elementary school (this will be my 2nd year) and I have heard all the rave about seesaw, yet I didn’t understand why this was so cool. I literally walked up to their booth and asked one of their representatives why should I use this edtech tool? Well, let’s just say she sold me! She was a teacher herself and explained how cool it was that kids can create these digital portfolios. Best of all, if parents ask, “What did you do at school today?” they can look at seesaw and SEE some of the work from the kids! GENIUS!
JESS & STEPH’S MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:
1.Flocabulary Mic Night: Best. Event. At. ISTE. Flocabulary put on a mic night at Reggies where they had rappers from their videos (who are also rappers in real life) attend and perform their music. Teachers also got up and did some raps (if they wanted to). Favorite part was the Chicago’s Young Artists got on the stage and rapped or did slam poetry. These kids were AMAZING! The way they spoke their stories through music was beyond heartwarming and beautiful. Those kids are going places.
2.Our Fangirl Moments: We went up to Jon and Marlena and fangirled a bit and told them who we were, Do2MuchTeachers. What did they do? They told us how much they LOVE us and told everyone in the session to follow us on twitter, whaaaat? Such a cool moment for two girls new to the blogging world! Also, meeting all the other authors/twitter celebs we have fangirled over. It was incredible to meet them in person and realize how down to earth and awesome they truly are. We also helped out at a Classcraft event and the Quizizz booth so we got to know the masterminds behind those two edtech companies. They are all such cool people!
3.The Vibe: The vibe at ISTE the entire time is pure happiness, positivity, and educators just like us. Educators who are willing to take a leap of faith and try something new. Educators who want to continue learning even though we have multiple degrees. These were our types of people. I want to continue the vibe and positive vibes only throughout this school year. Thanks ISTE for basically giving me a kick in the butt and bringing my creativity juices back!
4. The Expo Hall. Because… swag. We love free stuff!
We can not wait to go back to our schools and share the experiences we had. If you EVER get the chance to go to ISTE - ATTEND! Mingle, enjoy the happy hours, enjoy the positive vibes, and enjoy being with people who are just like you; like-minded educators wanting to learn the newest and best tools to use in their classrooms to help our students become the 21st century learners they are. We are keeping our fingers crossed and praying to God that we get to attend ISTE again.
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