Every once and awhile I am able to make it to major conferences either here in Canada or in the US.  Last week, I attended the FETC Conference in chilly Orlando Florida and have just spent two hours with John Sowash on Google and the Paperless Classroom.

 

 

on the first day, I attended a three-hour session on Makerspaces, MaKey Makey and eTextiles.  Later I will be attending a session on filmmaking in the classroom.  All this at the preconference!

 

my attempt at eTextiles

We really need to attend these conferences if we want to move learning in our schools.  As a principal, I am very fortunate to be able to attend a major conference every two years.  I have always taken advantage of this opportunity and I have always learned a great deal to bring back to my school.

 

Conferences also gets the creative juices flowing.  My to do list just from this morning includes learning Pear Deck, arranging a workshop on Hapara and connecting again with Discovery Education.  Not bad for the first two hours!

 

Creativity and innovation are the lifeblood of education.  Educators need the opportunity to share and exchange information as often as possible.  Twitter is a great help, but there is nothing like a real, live conference to really get the creative juices flowing.

 

This is a great place to connect as well.  Many of the people I follow on Twitter are here, Richard Byrne (Free Technology for teachers) and George Couros (The Innovator’s Mindset) are both here as keynote speakers.  The chance to see these educators live and possibly talk with them is exciting – my version of attending a Rock concert!

 

This may seem a little nerdy, but these conferences really revive my love for innovation in education.  The workshops fuel me with ideas that we can try back at our school.  Conferences fuel my desire to write and share with as many educators as possible.  I even present at some of these conferences and was briefly on the organizing committee for one in Ontario, Canada.

 

I should probably be doing more of this sort of work, but I am happy to attend and share right now.

 

As we get ready for our next workshop, I am meeting people from all over the States and Canada. I have talked to the presenter who I know can help us propel our makerspace to the next level.  

 

My job – just share everything!