Yesterday was awesome!  I arrived in Philly around 9, checked into the Marriott, and headed to the Convention Center  – SO COOL that it is attached to the Marriott with a bridge (the littlest things make me happy :).  Then, I proceeded to the room where my workshop was held.  I arrived about 2 hours early, but wanted to stake out the area.  I was NERVOUS and anxious to get started.

At 12:30-3:30, I presented my very first ISTE 3-hour workshop entitled, “Perk Up Your Projects With Web 2.0” to a great group of 25 educators, tech coaches and administrators.  It was an awesome workshop with great participation from the group with thoughtful reflection and insight into the pros and cons of using Web 2.0 tools with students.  What a great way to start ISTE for me!

Then it was off to dinner with some of my favorite people … it was great to see you all and reconnect.  It’s been way too long that the four of us were together!!  Dark Horse FTW 🙂

Next we headed to the Opening Keynote with Dr. John Medina of “Brain Rules” fame.  He was energetic, entertaining and effectively humorous!!  A few of my favorite items from his talk…

• “What is obvious to you… is obvious to YOU”
• “Fluid Intelligence has two parts – 1.  A richly structured database  2. The ability to improvise off of it”
• “Regular aerobic exercise increases executive function.  The ideal learning environment should be guided aerobic activity all day with islands of learning.”

After the Keynote, I headed out and reconnected with some of the great educational technology people from the great state of Pennsylvania before I turned in to get a good night’s sleep for a full day of learning today!

I am looking forward to a great day of sessions, connecting, meeting new people, and collaboration.  Not to mention my next workshop and an evening full of activities!

HAPPY ISTE ALL! 🙂