ISTE 2014- My First ISTE

Wow…wow, wow, wow.

It’s the first day of my first ISTE conference and I am overwhelmed, and overjoyed to be here. I scope out the schedule, find way too many things that I want to go to, and try to remember the helpful hints for a great conference that ISTE was kind enough to send out last week.

The first thing I figure out is the poster sessions…they are listed like the classes (which made me think I would not be able to see all of them) but they are all in the same place so you can go from one to the next and chat with the representatives of the posters, learn make contacts…AWESOME! That helps me narrow down my list and see somethings that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

Next thing, get there early…there are a lot of lines and cues when you are in a group of ten thousand plus educators. And apparently I pick really good sessions because I had to stand in line for almost every class. But it was worth it. The first day I went to the first Ignite! session and WOW! There are wonderful passionate educators here.

Next beware of brain overload. Late in the second day, I realized I was dazed. So I went back to my room and started sorting through the information I had been given from day 1 and 2. I read websites that had been mentioned, made notes, added to the notes I had taken on the fly during class, previewed resources that were gathered. That was helpful and set me up for day 3.

Day 3 was amazing as well. I attended my second Ignite! session…which fired me up, just like the first. Both rapid fire presentation sessions were amazing and I wish I had been able to attend the other two but alas one I missed and the second missed because I had to go home Tuesday to get to my physics class. But I did get to see Todd Nesloney (@TechNinjaTodd), Erin Klein (@KleinErin), and Rafranz Davis (@RafranzDavis) speak. (That is significant because they are who I want to be like when I grow up.) They all spoke on topics they are passionate about and that fired me up. I also found some new people to follow and look up to. All sorts of topics were covered, but the most important part was that the speaker was passionate about it.

I also realized something…gamification is innovative and new. There were a few game-based learning posters and sessions but GBL is different from gamification. This only makes my presentation at CAST about gamification that much more important and exciting.

In the end, I was excited, refreshed and ready to face the new school year when I stepped on the plane Tuesday. I have ideas to work with for both my class and my PD for next year. I came up with my idea for a book, now I just have to perform my research. So ISTE was EXTREMELY worth it! Thanks to whoever planned and setup this wonderful conference.