NC TIES is over for another year. It always seems to go soooo quickly.
This year I had an even exceptionally good time because I got to meet so many of my Skype NC Ed Tech Chat group “friends”. I say friends in quotes, because I have never met any of these friends in real life. We have become friends through many conversations and sharing of information. I know if I need anything I can go to them and someone will help me in an instant. That, is truly a friend.
At the opening session, my head did begin to swell a bit. Vicki Davis had a wonderful keynote and even mentioned me as someone who needs to be followed in North Carolina. I know, I’m just as shocked as you! WOW! What a shout-out! (Start listening at 27:10 to get the gist of what Vicki is talking about and to hear my name. Listen to the entire presentation here. Well worth the few minutes to listen – it was great!) Well, needless to say, I was walking on clouds the remainder of the conference.
Vicki Part 2
I did live blog all the sessions I attended. Everyone did a fabulous job. I learned a lot.
I was VERY proud of my presenting partner Kim. Kim is one of the best teachers I have ever seen. She infuses so much technology seemlessly into her classroom. It’s truly amazing to see what she does with her 6th graders! Kim presented her findings from Project W.I.S.E. – Wiki Integration in Science Education. She was one of the grant winners from NC TIES last year and was invited to speak this year. Check out what Kim is doing in her classroom here.
Don Mace (another one of my Skype buddies) did a great presentation on Moodle here. Here’s the handout of the presentation. I’m definitely going to have to spend more time looking into Moodle. This might be the answer to some of our problems in our county. Don is the Moodle guru. Check out what he’s doing with his teachers. Great work, Don!
Mark Samberg and Abbey Askew had another good presentation on It’s a Jungle Out There. Mark and Abbey had some great sites they shared. I know I’ll be referring to their wiki often.
I missed several of the big hitters this year so I could check out some of the ‘regualr’ folks. It does my heart good to see what teachers are doing in their classrooms. I wanted to see some grass roots presentations. Check out all the presentations at the NC TIES Wiki. I really liked how NC TIES added the wiki with the links this year. Great idea!
I hope we can attend NC TIES again next year. I always have a great time and learn so much! But, now it’s time to rest for a bit before I start digesting and processing all the information I learned.
Until next time ~ Danita
