Little Miss Geek

Hi, I'm Amanda and I am not a sit-and-getter. (Hi Amanda) I have not slowed down this summer, it has been a summer of learning. I have attended, participated, and presented at several different conferences this summer including the EngagEDnwi, ISTE2014, and EdcampHome. I have plans for a few more before the school year starts like the Leyden 1:1 Symposium , District 207 Summit , and the CPS Googlepalooza . Call me crazy, but I love learning! As I was driving back from my most recent learning experience at SAMRi Summer Camp, a conference run by a group of classroom teachers from Downers Grove 58, I started to reflect on the morning there. I was able to attend four great sessions, and the reason they were so great was because I was able to participate in all of them. I realized that I am not good at a sit-and-get style of learning. I need to be an active participant. I need to be able to ask questions, make connections to my life and experiences, and share things that I h...

Let me just start by saying I am in no way a gardener. I love flowers and think that they are beautiful, but I don't have much of a green thumb and would rather spend my time outside doing other things. But, this past September I bought a house and with a house comes gardening responsibilities. Early this spring my dad came and pulled out some very (read VERY) overgrown bushes and once they were gone my house was left looking a little bare. I planted a couple lilac bushes, a hydrangea, some bleeding hearts, and some other small bushes all of which are low maintenance.  The hydrangea was especially beautiful, if I do say so myself. In the front there was a lot of empty space so I bought some mulch to cover up the dirt, but got busy and still haven't had the chance to put all of it out. I was walking in my house the other day and saw that there was a whole bunch of other plants growing in the empty space. Those other plants are known as weeds. My beautiful garden needed to be wee...

To My Dearest ISTE, I can still remember the first time we met, it was in beautiful Denver. I came to you not really knowing what to expect, I had no idea all that you would someday give me. That first week together I tried to attend every session you offered, I sat and learned at every session I possibly could and I'm pretty sure my brain grew three sizes that week (kind of like the Grinch's heart). While I was in Denver a friend, +Daniel Rezac , introduced me to twitter which has opened up the world so much. Without you, ISTE, I may have never known the power it can hold. Sadly we parted ways after five wonderful days together, hopeful to see each other soon. It took us a couple years to to be in the same place at the same time, but when we were together in San Diego it was magical. I got to see a different side of you. I learned that you spent your days learning and your nights celebrating. We are two peas in a pod. I had the time of my life just being there with you l...

No, this wasn’t my first ISTE rodeo, but there was something very unique about this time for me … I presented a poster session. If you would have met me ten years ago the first word that you would probably use to describe me would most likely have been shy, or it would have at least made the top ten. If you met me this week shy probably wouldn’t be on the list, actually I would think that if I called myself shy people might look at me like I was crazy. I’m not really sure what caused this change, what triggered it, when it happened, or whether it has slowly occurred over time. What I do know is that I am so happy that I have gained confidence. Anyway… Last year at #ISTE13 in San Antonio I decided to drive (so I might actually be a little crazy) in early so that I could attend the pre-conference #HackEd event. One of the sessions that I went to was on Coaching. Having just finished my first year as an Instructional Technology Coach in Park Ridge I had a lot to share. At some point...

This was the first week of summer school ... and oh what a week it was! I am teaching two different classes Game Design and Crazy for Code to incoming fourth and fifth graders. For Game Design the students are using Gamestar Mechanic . They learn different elements of video game design while working through challenges that teach them about the different elements of building a video game and then they work up to building their own game. Gamestar Mechanic does all of the coding for the students so that they are just manipulating the elements of a game: space, rules, components, mechanics, and goals. It helps them to develop a story for their game and I think it would be really interesting during the school year to let them create games around literature they are reading, history they are learning, or stories they are writing. The students are loving it! The class that I was most excited to teach was Crazy for Code. Don't get me wrong Game Design is a lot of fun, but I am reall...

Today was the last day of my second year at Carpenter Elementary School as their Instructional Technology coach. Words cannot express how much I love my job. There are, of course, rough days where things don't go right or I get bogged down in the politics of education and change. But, I believe in what I am doing and I see the impact I have had with the teachers that I work with and the students that we serve. I know though, that I could not have had any impact if it weren't for the truly great group of people that I work with and the relationships that we have built together. Without relationships you cannot have growth. Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in real life grows. - Ben Stein Relationships are built on mutual respect. In the first couple months in my time at Carpenter I had to work to gain the respect of my teachers. I had to prove to them that I knew what I was talking about. In talking with...

image source There is this really great breakfast place that I take my son to sometimes. I always order the same thing, an omelet nest and an iced tea. Every single time the tea comes with a spoon in it. The spoon is a great tool! It has many uses and is even necessary to complete certain tasks such as eating soup easily. Even though the spoon is a great tool, if I don't get it out of the way it causes problems when I'm trying to drink my iced tea by hitting me in the face. It doesn't matter how great a tool is, if it's getting in the way of what you're trying to do (in this scenario, it's drinking tea) it isn't the right tool for the job. A straw, however, is the perfect tool for this task. Technology, wether it's Chromebooks, iPads, Laptops or mobile devices, is an amazing tool that has so many uses and in many cases makes life so much easier. Technology has made things possible that were not before. Just because technology is an excellent tool f...