Four more peeps

Disclaimer: This is the fourth part of my five part series leading up to NECC about who I'm hoping to meet. I apologize for those I left out and for any mistakes I make (please leave a comment to correct me).

Thursday: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach & Will Richardson,
The Jon Becker and Bud the Teacher

Trying to fit in a few people here so I chose two people I’ve met and two I haven’t met yet.
The main people who have helped me in my job are my colleagues: Tim Clarke and Rick Weinberg, as well as my BOCES ISS team. However, the two people who helped jump start my learning into hyperdrive were: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Will Richardson.

I’m sure everyone out there knows about both of these National presenters, so I’ll give a brief overview:
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach bio from here blog- Doctoral candidate, President of 21st Century Collaborative, LLC (21stcenturycollaborative.com) and Co-founder of Powerful Learning Practice, LLC (plpnetwork.com) with Will Richardson, and I'll throw in her incredible wiki full of resources in here as well: 21st Century Learning.

Will Richardson bio from his blog- “Learner in Chief” at Connective Learning and the author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms now in its 2nd Edition. Will is also a national advisory board member for the George Lucas Education Foundation, he writes a quarterly column called “Web 2.0″ for District Administration magazine, and he's a regular contributor to journals such as Educational Leadership, Edutopia, English Journal and others.
Now, some of what they've done for me. My first month on my new job with CA BOCES I started the WNY-PLP group. This introduced me to powerful education leaders in our area, classroom uses for wikis, this Ning thing (I now belong to 33 groups) and also how to conduct live Elluminate sessions. This is the wiki that we worked in for the WNY-PLP group, the Ning group is private so I can’t share it. However, we had a great culminating event and my team put together a nice little Voicethread with what they did.

Where would I be without their initial push? Still moving forward, but they have both connected me to not only some great ideas, but also to great Educational leaders on Twitter, through Skype and Elluminate.

How about Jon Becker?

My main Duke Twitter fellow! Jon seems to always be on Twitter when I am. With him you also get a full range of tweets. From deep pedagogical advice and views, to well.... “@kellyhines Chapel Hill. Booooo!!!”

Gotta love it.

Another thing about Mr. Becker is that he replies to almost everyone, even me!
Not only has he helped remind me about upcoming Duke Basketball games, but also views from the college level and trust me, he’s not afraid to share his opinion. Here is his blog.
Almost forgot his bio from his blog- An assistant professor at the Educational Leadership Department at Virginia Commonwealth University, he teaches courses in school law and educational research methods.

I appreciate all Jon has done from sharing good Cars knowledge from his son to his college DimDim Educational meetings.
I just hope he's not that great of a golfer, not only will I meet him Face 2 Face at NECC, but it looks like he's in the group ahead of me.

And my main question for Dr. Becker at VCU and proud Duke graduate….what did you think about 2007?

Bud the Teacher

aka: Bud Hunt

Bio from Bud's blog- Bud is an instructional technologist for the St. Vrain Valley School District in northern Colorado. He is a teacher-consultant with the Colorado State University Writing Project. Bud is a co-founder of Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation and has served as an Online Community Leader for the New Jersey Cohort of Powerful Learning Practice
Lately I’ve been watching for Promethean advice and tips on Twitter, however, I've always picked up great ideas from him. I know that he was always involved in K12 Online and NotK12 Online. I'm hoping after our trip to NECC I'll have even more to add here.

It's late and you know what, this blogging thing is kind of tough for me. But, I'm glad I'm doing this again. We'll see if I can keep it up.

For Friday? I'm going to try to hit a quick intro to a bunch of people in my Learning Network on Twitter.....good night.

Chris Lehmann

Disclaimer: This is the third in my five part series about people I'm hoping to meet at NECC this year. I apologize for missing people in my PLN and if I have any incorrect information (please feel free to leave a comment and correct).

Wednesday: Chris Lehman and SLA

This one was an easy one for me to choose. Trying to write this blog post and what I’ve learned from Chris….not so easy.

Chris Lehman is the principal of the Science Leadership Academy (SLA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia. To me, he seems 'Scary Smart'. You can read his bio on the SLA Faculty page.
OK, I admit, I didn’t realize all of the things that they do down there at SLA, and I still can't wrap my mind around most of them. What I do know is that it must be great! My guess to why we hear so much about SLA is the positive leadership from the top.
This last January I tried to watch the live streams from Educon 2.1 while also finishing up some plumbing in the Carls bathroom. It was amazing the talent they had there.
Seriously, look at the sessions in here! Wait, I want to make sure you get this:
EDUCON 2.1

There was the original Educon wiki to check out as well.

Now, I’m preparing to go to NECC in Washington, DC in a few days, but I remember back in January, after watching some of these Mogulus streams I decided I wanted Educon 2.2 to be the National Conference I went to in 2010!

Small problem with our travel ban for the next year ….. I’ll have to work that out.

All right, enough about me. Check out Chris’ blog.
You can tell right away what a caring leader he is from reading this, and his tweets on Twitter.
I was able to squeeze into his workshop last year at NECC in San Antonio. At this workshop he talked about creating sound pedagogical practices and shared stories about how creative they've been down at SLA with his students. It was engaging and you could tell he was passionate about his work there listening to stories like his students waiting on patents to help major companies! (I forgot for what or to check on where this stands) I'm sure there are tons of other great things conquered there this year.
The one article I recently read and like to see about Chris and SLA was about Project Based Learning, which I've bookmarked and shared with other colleagues.

What about the his SLA staff on Twitter. I follow: Tim Best - Science teacher, Marcie Hull - Digital Arts and Diane Laufenberg - History. Brief descriptions are giving on the SLA Faculty and Staff page. Tim, Marcie and Zac Hall are also presenting at NECC this year. Unfortunately, at the same time as Chris and a bunch of great people on Wednesday July 1st from 10:30 - 11:30am. To me, this seems like the best hour of sessions, I think I'll go to this one, though.

Who could I compare Chris to? In my life, another principal of a Charter School, John Hawk. We both went to Fredonia State, we both majored in Secondary Ed Math (he talked me into it), however, John was that 'Type A' person and was very driven. He almost had me out in Vegas with him! Between John and his beautiful wife, not only do they run Nevada State High School, but they always seem to conquering things. Right now, I believe they're looking to open another Charter School in Reno.

My point? Many people are intelligent, however, some can’t carry it forward to others. Incredible ideas bounce around upstairs, but if you're unable to convey those ideas to others, what good is it? That is why I compared Chris to my friend John Hawk. Both are engaging. Both have that other gear (I'm still looking for neutral!) And both find a way to get others inspired and rejuvenated.

When I see all that Chris has accomplished (at such a young age), it inspires me, and I’m sure others as well, to do better. To work harder. To be that positive influence.

Thank you.

Next up for Thursday! I need to fit in quite a few....not 100% sure. Could someone also add a few hours to the day so I can get this done?

US Invasion

Disclaimer: This is the second in a five part series. I hope to have all the information correct, please help out by leaving (or correcting) information. I know I'll miss some people, but will try to highlight many people in my PLN.

Tuesday: US Invasion

Originally I thought I'd make this blogpost about some of the Team Canada people that I follow on Twitter. I began thinking, however, that I'm not sure how many will be making the Southern Trek from 'O Canada' to NECC in Washington, DC. I'm sure there are quite a few I missed, please leave comments and my apologies.

After I realized from Twitter that Jeff Utecht was going to be there, I thought I'd go with these two:

Dean Shareski

and Jeff Utecht
These screen captures were done with Jing and the images came from Dean and Jeff's Twitter avatar as of June 22nd, 2009

Dean Shareski is a Digital Learning Consultant with the Prairie South School Division in Moose Jaw, SK, Canada and also a sessional lecturer for the University of Regina according to his blog.
Not only have I been able to see his Qik video updates, but I've also watched a few of his workshops and student presentations on Ustream!
I did meet Dean at last year’s NECC in San Antonio. I was walking away from Liz Kolb’s cellphone presentation because there was such a line, but he convinced Rick Weinberg and myself that it would be worth the wait. Rick and I turned around and we took front row seats (on the floor), and Dean was right, it was worth the wait. Liz gave us quite a bit of great information to use cellphones in the classroom and I know Rick has done quite a bit in our area since this presentation including his NYSCATE presentation in November (with some technical difficulties!)
I also remember talking to him briefly when he was carrying the head of Darren Kuropatwa to their dinner table! We were out for a stroll on the River Walk and Dean was meeting with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Wes Fryer about the K12Online Conference. Darren was calling in via Skype. You can read about it on Sheryl’s blog post about their K12 meeting.

I don't think he's going to make it, but anther member of the EdTech Posse with Dean is Dr. Alec Couros. I’ve wanted to meet Alec not just for Courosa radio, but for all he's shared the last two years on Twitter. Like Dean he shares many Ustream workshop videos and lately I've caught some of his Qik live streaming video as well (Maybe even a dance recital or two). Alec is a professor of educational technology and media at the University of Regina and talks a great deal of creating Open Classrooms and "Harnessing the Power of Social Networking".
I try to catch as many of their workshops when streamed online as I can, or the occasional Tiny Chat! The last workshop I saw was with both of them at the TCEA Conference in Texas. Dean just blogged about here.

This screen capture was done with Jing and taken from: http://moodle.tcea.org/area7conference/

There are at least two other members of the EdTech Posse: Rob Wall and Rick Schweir (there are probably others). I'm not so sure if they're coming to NECC this year, but if so, I'd love to meet them as well.

OK, I've never had that much to say about Canada, eh?

Next on Deck:

Jeff Utecht lives in Bangkok, Thailand and he is currently the Technology and Learning Coordinator for the International School of Bangkok. I also know that he manages the Wikis in Education Wiki for Wetpaint. My problem is that Wetpaint is blocked by most of our districts!
I also know that Jeff is a baseball fan and a big Mariners fan from what I can gather from his tweets. I'm hoping he can join us at our NECC baseball trip that Paul R Wood is organizing. His blog The Thinking Stick was one of the first blogs that I became interested in. A little humor, some great tips and useful websites to use with teachers seemed to fill his pages.

I believe Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach showed me Jeff on Twitter. Just by responding to an occasional tweet or gathering ideas from his blog, I think Jeff helped me realize how small the world really is with technology nowadays. It is neat to hear from Jeff or Kim Cofino (@mscofino) when they are just waking up and are getting ready to start the day, while I’m getting ready to hit the sack.

Next up for Wednesday: Looking for a good Cheese Steak and a good education? You know where to go....

Deep in the heart of Texas

Disclaimer: This will be the first in a five part series. I hope to have all the information correct, please help out by leaving (or correcting) information. I know I'll miss some people, but will try to highlight many people in my PLN.
Monday: Deep in the heart of Texas
I thought I’d start off the week with my golf foursome!
First of all, I owe them, they have NO IDEA what they’re in for on Monday! Thank goodness I’ll get a round in this Thursday with friends, because the other 2 times I’ve played this year have been ugly!
Paul R. Wood

Let's begin with @paulrwood. I think I started following him after some tweets by Brian Smith. The proud Texan has been a very valuable part of my network since I started on Twitter. I saw Paul last year in San Antonio, but never introduced myself to him. Paul is the Director of Tech at Bishup Dunne High School in Texas.
When I first started playing with Ustream, I streamed Christmas morning (2007) and Paul was one of the visitors (my parents couldn’t believe someone from Texas took time out to watch the Carls Grandkids!). Since then, he’s added a great deal to my learning and probably the main person I’d like to meet face-to-face this year. I also hear he’s an amazing golfer!

Scott S. Floyd and Christine Voigt

@WOScholar and @clvoigt have both been great resources and I was able to connect to them through Paul’s influence on Twitter. Just two weeks ago I was able to watch the Area 7 TCEA Conference to be held in White Oak ISD put on by Scott and his crew at White Oak. Christine is the Instructional Tech Specialist at Bishup Dunne High School and has been another great addition.
And I must admit, I’m shaking that this crew will beat me in golf…..I’ve packed the foot wedge.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/courosa/3626583372/

Next up for Tuesday: Looking for others outside the country, eh?

What do you want to get out of NECC 2009?

I was thinking of this about a month ago, but never put aside the time to start these blog posts.

"What do I want to get out of NECC 2009?"

Screen capture using JingProject from: http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2009/

After being quite overwhelmed last year in San Antonio (I made it to quite a few workshops, but stayed pretty quiet) I'm hoping to meet more of my network. Even though I visited the Edublogger Cafe, I didn't introduce myself to many of the people I knew on Twitter and/or Plurk.

This year, my main goal is to make face-to-face connections with people that I communicate with on an almost daily basis. Hopefully, that will happen and I can thank all of them for their help, and the support they've given me this last year.

** However, all I've really planned (so far) are the golf and baseball outings**

By the way, I can't wait to see Camden Yards!

I'd like to know what others are looking forward to at NECC this year?
Is it to meet specific people? Seeing a certain speaker? Maybe it's the Vendors!

My plan is to try and blog the next 5 days about the people I'm hoping to meet this year. This could be difficult for me, since I've really let this blog sit over these last few months. Shhhhhh.

First up for Monday, here's a small hint.

Picture found using Google Images from http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/010481.html

Not the picture....here's the hint:

"The stars are bright...."

Educational Uses for Glogster?

Today on Twitter, Paula White sent a tweet to Andrew Connelly asking for a "140 word description of glogster, please :)"
The reason this caught my eye was because I've liked using Glogster to create an on-line poster or to spice up a wiki. I've also shown Glogster to a few teachers this year (at least one has the EDU account with her students and they use it quite a bit). I've also used it for my own wiki (for our daughter's 2nd Birthday part invite), and even as a colorful way to link to websites in our CA BOCES RtI wiki.
Here's a Glog I made from 'TweetShots' (Captured from Jing) that I recieved today:

I think Glogster is a neat visual way to spice things up like I said, however, just loading this page and getting back into edit have been difficult. I also know others (including one of the teachers I work with) have had it not save or upload pictures when a class full of kids were on the Glogster site.

Thanks to everyone who helped out today and to @paulawhite for distracting my from my paperwork!?!?

Actually, it was a great opportunity for me to see what others have done and HEY, I blogged again.
What do you know.

Any other ideas on how to use Glogs in the classroom (or personally)?