My First EduBloggerCon

After three wonderful days in Estes Park with members of my PLN, I headed into Denver to attend EduBloggerCon. Last year I missed the EBC in Washington D.C. because I attended the Discovery Day of School event at the Discovery headquarters in Silver Springs, Maryland. Unfortunately Discovery and EduBloggerCon are scheduled for the Saturday before ISTE starts on Sunday, so that means I will have to make a choice to attend one or the other.

EBC was the first unconference I have ever attended. An unconference is planned the morning of the event and consists of conversations instead of presentations. Here you will find the pictures of those who attended and the schedule that was created of the event. My biggest take aways from this event are

students need lessons on "crap" detection

we need to present sessions on digital citizenship to parents

should how we assess tech literacy be standardized (?)

I have some thinking to do.

By the way, I made the picture this year. Woohoo!

Posted via email from Paula's posterous

My PLN at Pre-ISTE10 Get Away

I have spent the last couple of days relaxing in a cabin in Estes Park, CO before heading into Denver to attend EduBloggerCon and ISTE10. Thanks to Beth Still (who organized this whole thing), I am enjoying the company of Paul R. Woods and his wife, Diane, Scott Floyd, Mike Gras, and Randy Rogers who all hail from Texas. Also Steven Anderson (NC), Mary Beth Hertz (PA), Cory Plough (NV), Brenda Smith (NE), Michelle Baldwin (NE), Jason Schrange (NY), Richard Bryne (ME) and of course Beth are all here with me. It has been an incredible experience. The activities have included fishing (not my thing), hiking, sightseeing, eating, drinking and impromptu TweetUps with this incredible group. Steve Johnson stopped by for our Mexican feast last night and Kyle Pace joined us via Skype. This is the power of a PLN and Twitter at its finest.

Personal learning networks (PLN) and Twitter are hard to explain to some educators who have never had this type of experience. My 2009 New Year's resolution was to build my PLN and understand how to use Twitter for professional development. I started on the Ning network and then joined Twitter in February of that year. My goal was to get to know some educators online and then hopefully meet some of them face to face when I attended NECC in Washington D.C. Beth was one of the first people to reach out to me because she had taken a similar journey after attending NECC in San Antonio in 2008. Sue Waters (from Australia) encouraged each step of my process and I used her resource to help build my PLN. Incredibly I did get to spend time with both of them in Washington plus dozens of others I'd met online.

My PLN has continued to expand over this current year and now I'm here in Colorado enjoying quality time with some of them. I am eagerly awaiting the start of ISTE10 where I will get to meet even more "online friends" face to face. Many of my PLN who can not be in Denver are looking to me to keep them updated on all the great events of the conference which I will do through Twitter updates. I have set a goal for myself while at ISTE10 to help make other "newbies" feel welcome and to get them started on the road to developing their PLN.

Posted via email from Paula's posterous

Great ISTE Advice from a Great Friend

I have never met Jen Wagner face to face and I am sad about that. I have participated in many of her projects over the years and responded to her various surveys she has posted when she is presenting at various conferences around the country. We have been in many a chat room together as we virtually attended conference sessions. Jen was one of the first members of my PLN (personal learning network) and I cherish her friendship. One of these days we will get to meet face to face, but until then I look for her online presence everywhere I go.

I saw a comment on Twitter that sent me to Jen's newest post. This is a must read for all of us who will be attending ISTE10 this week. This is great advice from a great friend.

Posted via web from Paula's posterous

"Connect with a Newbie" Project

As I start packing for my exciting week in Denver and saw a lot of nervous tweets from newbies attending ISTE10 and a great question popped into my overwhelmed brain: What can I do to help the newbies? Well as I was drinking my coffee and thinking back over my previous ISTE (formerly NECC) conferences I remember what a difference feeling connected made to my conference experience, so I put out a challenge on the ISTE Ning.

I posted the link on Twitter and had it retweeted by several members of my PLN including one newbie I can't wait to meet in Denver.

So I ask you are you up to the challenge?

Posted via web from Paula's posterous

EduBloggerCon in Denver

Last year in Washington D.C. I arrived at EduBloggerCon right at the very end of the event. I was coming from the Discovery Headquarters in Silver Springs, Maryland where I had attended Discovery Day of School. I'm glad I got to attend the Discovery event, but I was sad to have missed EBC09. Well, this year I plan on being at EBC10 for the whole day and learning the ropes of this experience from my personal learning network PLN buddy Beth Still. I can't wait to see what happens at this "unconference" and to meet more members of my PLN face to face. 

I want to be in the picture this year!

 

Posted via web from Paula's posterous

I'm Backkkkkk!!

I set up a an account on Posterous a long time ago and only used it a few times. Well today I was directed back by another user's tweet and decided to try it again. I've added a few autopost accounts and am seeing how that works.

If you can send an email with an attachment, you can use Posterous for your blogging platform. Easy peasy. I'm attaching a photo that will also be added to my Flickr account. I think I will start using this service regularly.

Posted via web from Paula's posterous

I'm Presenting at ISTE Unplugged

12:00-12:30 pm

Title: Web 2.0 Lessons Learned from an Elementary Teacher Description: I teach 4th graders and I use many of the Web 2.0 tools you've heard of with them - Skype, VoiceThread, Glogsters, Edmodo, Google docs, and more. Join me as I share my lessons learned and best practices for integrating today's tools into an innovative classroom. Let's share our experiences. Presenter: Paula L. Naugle, Bissonet Plaza Elementary School, Jefferson Parish Public School System, Metairie, Louisiana

Well I did it. I signed up to present on Wednesday, June 30 at the unconference known as ISTE Unplugged. I am both excited and nervous at the same time. I figure I'll rally some of my PLN members around me for moral support and I'll be fine. (Sue Waters you better be close by.) I figure with the topic I chose and how I like to share my experiences it should go well. Wish me luck.

Check out the schedule and maybe add your own presentation to the list.

Let's Skype While I'm at ISTE10

My last post let you know how excited I am to attend ISTE10 in Denver. I know how jealous I am when members of my PLN are attending conferences around the country that I can't get to. I have attended many conference sessions virtually thanks to my PLN tweeting out the URLs. I have been a part of many backchannel chats while I was sitting at home in my pj's.

I'd like to extend an invitation to anyone who is interested to Skype with me while I am at the Bloggers' Cafe. Too many people think they shouldn't go there if they don't blog. Nothing could be further from the truth. They really should call this area PLN Plaza. Everyone who hangs out in this area of the convention center is more than willing to engage in conversation with anyone who is there. I will spend several hours in the Bloggers' Cafe each day and would love to let you experience it first hand. If you are interested add plnaugle to your Skype contacts and let me know through a tweet or an email that you would like to connect. I will do all I can to make you feel a part of the experience.

Can't Wait to Attend ISTE10

Today I filled out a survey put out by ISTE asking what excites me about ISTE10. I found that an easy question to answer. I am excited about meeting the members of my PLN (personal learning network) face to face. I was fairly new to Twitter last year when I went to Washington, D.C. to attend NECC, but I was warmly welcomed into the Blogger Cafe by the likes of @bethstill, @suewaters, @jutecht, @rmbyrne, @paulawhite, @paulrwood, @dobrien917, @angelamaiers and many others. I went to a TweetUp and attended a baseball game with my new friends. I had great conservations with @coolcatteacher, @stevehargadon, @teach42, @mcarls, and other wonderful educators. I had such a great experience that I decided there and then that I would definitely attend ISTE10.

I've been lucky enough to attend NECC04 in New Orleans, NECC08 in San Antonio, and NECC09 in Washington D.C. Each of these trips was funded by my school. Funds were written into our School Improvement Plan to allow for this. Unfortunately those funds are not available this year, but I decided to foot my own trip to ISTE10. Why you might ask? Is the $1,500 worth it? My answer is absolutely YES.

What will happen in those five days in Denver will be worth every penny I will spend to attend. I will attend sessions presented by innovative educators from around the globe. I will renew my old friendships, and establish many new ones. I will get to share ideas and set up collaborations for the coming school year. I will hear about others' best practices and learn new ways to use Web 2.0 tools. I will get to spend quality time with other educators who are like me. I will get to hone my presenting skills at ISTE unplugged. I am psyched. It will be so invigorating.

I am prepping for my trip by adding an ISTE10 column to Tweetdeck, tweeting with my PLN, establishing a presence on the ISTE Ning, ordering my Twitter Tshirt, organizing my conference planner, and signing up for activites like TweetUps. I have started adding places of interest to my ISTE10 Google map and I downloaded the Bump app to my iPhone so I'll be ready to exchange contact info with everyone. Okay what have I forgotten?

Can you tell that I am excited to get to ISTE10? If you are attending I hope I get to connect with you. If you are not attending in person, be on the lookout for all of the tweets on Twitter which will tell you how to attend virtually. Look for the backchannels that I'm sure will be set up for some of the sessions.

Yesterday I attended Spotlight on the Gulf webinar featuring Philippe Cousteau. According to Steve Dembo there were a record number of attendees. Actually I attended the second session which was offered to people who live in the areas that are most affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. I received an email from Discovery saying that due to such a large number of people registered for the event that the second one was being offered.

Philippe is a passionate environmentalist and listening to him explain the impact of the oil spill was heart breaking. Unfortunately at this time there are more questions then answers about what impact this will have on our environment. He included pictures and videos that he had taken on his tour of the affected area.

I live in the New Orleans area and am already feeling the affects that this spill is having on our area. It saddens me to think of how long it will take to get Louisiana’s wetlands cleaned up.

The webinar and related extension activities can be found here.

Photo credit: http://animalplanettalent.com/media/uploads/headshots/large/philippe-cousteau_.jpg