Iowa #i11i Conference

Dear Readers,

I had the opportunity to attend the Iowa 1 to 1 conference.  This is my third year attending the event and still marvel at what it has become.  I am impressed with how much the conference has grown over the four year period.  It was a great opportunity to meet people that I follow via twitter.  I also feel inspired after attending an event and want to come back and change everything right away.  However, we need to proceed slowly.  Here are the major points I took away from the conference and what I hope to bring back to my district and school site:

1.) @MR_EHN Have an infrastructure to support your initiatives.  I spoke with the BCSD tech director and found out we are getting Enterprise installed in our school.  We already have the internet speed, but we need to update our machines.

2.) Also from @MR_EHN A tid-bit he received go slow to move fast.  This relates back to number 1.  I agree with the philosophy and will stick to the guide line.

3.) Prepare the staff for the tool.  Computers/devices are not here to replace teachers, only here to help students expand their horizons.  The computer/device is a tool to help with efficiency or collaboration or investigation or whatever you need it to be.  The teacher needs to know how to harness that device and create the environment for learning to occur.

4.) Encourage risk taking and support risk taking.  I heard that from just about every presenter at the event and also from participates at the event. 

5.) Be the change.  This is from @casas_jimmy and completely agree.  I want to support the reform that needs to take place and hopefully the staff feels the same way.  We all feel like the system needs an overhaul.  If we all accept the idea of "Be the change" it will occur. 

These five points are only a handful of the ideas I received at the conference.  I have to keep the focus small for the change to occur.  I am fortunate to have a wonderful staff and appreciate the hours they instill into their jobs.  I rarely here a compliant and seem to hear ideas how we can become better.