Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts

Thank you SC Edtech for another great conference. It’s not over yet, but I’ve already experienced so much, I have to say thank you. While I very much enjoy my “virtual network from Twitter, Second Life, Blogging, and more, nothing replaces seeing the teachers so eager to learn each year at our state conference, and the willingness of everyone to share and strengthen our foundation in pedagogy. That’s right, I did NOT say integration of tech skills. Our conference is so much about teaching, learning, engaging students, and improving our own skills, and I am proud of the quality and quantity year in and year out. This year is no different. Even though it was the third time had seen Deneen Bowen Frazier, her opening keynote was fresh, shockingly true, and amazing. Thanks to Donna Teuber and Kevin Merrick, I’ve learned that geochaching is a whole new arena and I am interested in using these in a cross curricular project (so I need to find a funding or grant source!) Thanks to Chris Craft, I learned today that there is still much to debate about the relevance of MUVE’s and gaming in the classroom, but it is intriguing and highly relevant to our students. A big thank you to MaryAnn Sansonetti for sharing all the ipod-abilities for student learning (and Cathy learning too.) I can’t wait to get iQuiz and use iQuizmaker. She had a session on StreamlineSC that was exceptional as well. That’s not to say it was perfect day. Murphy’s law was definitely the rule for the day. We went out geocaching in the very damp air, so my hair fell flat. Ugghh. Oh well, its not about me is it? Then in the 1:15 session, that half of the hallway had no air, but it was Chris’s session on gaming, so I went anyway. Well worth it, but HOT. Then I went to set up for mine, which was at 2:30, and suddenly had the realization that this time slot was the only session in the whole three days of workshops that would not have a half hour b/w it and the next session. The presenter in the room went over by ten minutes, leaving me five minutes to set up. The room had no air either, and then my MacBookPro would NOT sync up with the projector provided to all the sessions.. I had to reboot, which I did not want to do. I began just in time, only to realize TOO LATE we had not done a sound check, so I had no real audio for the one video clip I wanted to share, and I could not play the short segments of a few podcasts. First time in years I did not go with a back up plan in place for the “just in case” situations like this. That’s okay b/c I allowed my group to leave a full ten minutes early since we were suffering from the heat/ (The temp outside was near 80 degrees, and very humid/muggy. Inside the rooms w/o air was near 90. GRRRR!) We should get a discount or rebate for the lack of a/c. Oh wait, my registration was waived b/c I was a presenter! Alls well that ends well though, as I’ve already received two emails from participants telling me how much they learned, and Tim VanHuele of Greenville and Kathy Sutusky of Columbia assured me my content was excellent, relevant, and much needed, and that I presented it well. (I did “Feed the Mind with RSS” and my links are here.) There is another day tomorrow, and I’m sure it will be as good as today. Hopefully no Murphy’s Law.