nita (Lesage)Prawdzik
A
ISTE REPORT
June 26th 2014 will forever be marked as a fond memory for me. It was finally the day that we would arrive in Atlanta Georgia for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference. The energy going into this conference was indescribable. My teachers’ Eva Brown and Cynthia Zelenewich along with my co-presenter Meghan Reid and I were on Remind’s top 10 watch list for this conference. It was our first time to this enormous conference and we were making our presence known.
The sheer size of this conference is enough to empower anyone. There are so many exhibits and sessions that you honestly wish you could clone yourself to be able to attend them all. The passion for learning is truly evident, and the collaborations and networking is something that you need to be there to see with your own eyes. People from all over the world are meeting, some for the first time, some from followers on Twitter, connecting and igniting their passion for learning. Wherever you turn there is another educator connecting with you throughout the event. ISTE was great by implementing a game from their app to have people connecting and partaking in an ice breaker at the same time. The first day was a world-wind of information and trying to not get lost in World Congress Center.
Presentation day, if I had to sum it up in two words it would be would be "Amazing Memory". Not only was I fortunate enough to continue my grow network and learn new information, we were to present that night after the opening keynote. I think once we set up our poster session, it set in, we are going to present soon. Meghan and I are Pre-Service Teachers were going to share our knowledge with other educators from around the world. I say educators as there were not only teachers, but specialists and coordinators as well as innovators. ISTE recommends that you print off about 100 cards to share your information. It was a surreal feeling when I heard that 30 minutes into our half hour presentation we ran out of the 500 cards our teacher Eva Brown decided to bring. It was that moment that we knew educators were interested in Flipping PD and the concept that surrounds the topic we were presenting. We had made our mark at the ISTE conference. An hour and a half flew by as though it was only 15 minutes. At the end of the day, Eva, Cynthia, Meghan and I were running on pure adrenaline, an amazing feeling to see so many people and share our knowledge. You know we did well when the next day we were known as their "Canadian Friends" when this conference was home to more than 18000 educators.
A particular session that I enjoyed was presented by Adam Bellow and he showed a perspective on the past present and future of technology. It was absolutely inspiring. When you are surrounded with so much passion, it is easy to see that we are forever evolving and truly are lifelong learners.
As I said before, ISTE will forever be a fond memory. This conference encompassed and exhibited all the traits that I want to be as a teacher: passionate, lifelong learner, motivated, encouraging, connecting, collaborator and innovative. It was an amazing opportunity and I thank my Instructors Eva Brown and Cynthia Zelenewhich for everything they have taught me and helped me shape the teacher I will be one day. I also want to thank my co-presenter Meghan Reid for passion, creativity, and for working alongside with me on this presentation. I will forever have great memories with great people.