Pledge to Begin Better Next Year

Now is the time! Take the pledge to do what you can to make next school year have the best start. Here's what you can do now to help you make that awkward transition from summer to a new academic year.

• Register for professional development that will fill your bag of tricks. Give some time during the
  
  summer to make your life easier later.
• Do you need time to work on your website or blog?
• Learn how to add a Google Calendar that will keep students/parents up-to-date.
• Learn how to upload newsletters to a shared folder on Google Drive--easy and efficient.
• Customize the look. Make it personal and interesting to increase traffic to your site.
• Add a Symbaloo to your site with links to some favorite websites.
• Do you need to learn how to use your interactive whiteboard as more than a projection screen and dry erase type board?
• Learn how to use the Promethean or Smart software.
• Take time to create flipcharts or notebooks that you can use at the beginning of the year (open house, first days, etc.)
• Collaborate with your team to create interactive lessons that have students on their feet and engaged in their learning.
• Do you want to become more efficient?
• Try organizing documents in Google Drive.
• Learn to keep your email inbox tidy and easy to navigate.
• Go deeper into Google Docs so that you can create, share, and teach your students how to use them as well.
• Go through your network files now and delete the things you'll never use again.  Do you really need all 100 photos of your students from 3 years ago?
• Work on your Personal Learning Network (PLN) so that you have ideas at your fingertips throughout the year from respected sources. Click the link to go to Kathy Schrock's guide and learn how to create your own PLN. Learn how to use Google+ to your advantage.
• Plan ways to flip your classroom--yes, even in the lower grades. There are some great ways to have a modified flip for students who do not have access to technology at home. If nothing else, investigate and find out what all the talk is about!

Please add your comments and ideas for using time now to create a better start for next year.  

SXSWedu 2014

The opportunity normally presents itself once per year to attend a professional conference, and most years my colleagues and I have all attended TCEA (Texas Computer Educators Association) at the Austin Convention Center. This year, however, about half of us decided to try something new and see what South by Southwest Edu had to offer.

Here are my observations, comparisons, and conclusions from the experience:

• If you're looking for skill-enhancing sessions, definitely attend TCEA.
• If you go to SX and want to learn tech skills, go to the Google Lounge.
• If you want to consider the state of education and where it may turn, attend SXSWedu.
• At SXSWedu be careful when attending panel discussions. Many of them are sponsored and tend to lean heavily in the direction of the sponsor's product.
• While SX had some new tech product demonstrations, TCEA is the place to see what's coming out and what's going away.
• At both conferences the keynote speakers are a tossup. Some years they are informative and inspirational while some years they are only mildly entertaining.
• I appreciated being able to hear Wendy Davis, candidate for governor of Texas lay out her platform on education in a relatively intimate setting. It's important to understand what the candidates have to say when it comes to the things we care about.
• Personally, the SXSWedu film festival was by far the most enjoyable part of the experience. Each of the three films I saw was inspiring in one way or another.

So in nutshell, the two conferences serve their own purposes. The audiences have an overlap, and most educators can benefit from both. I believe that I will continue to attend both but on alternating years.