Remember DEN and again

Sorry, I forgot to blog my own photo challenge yesterday. That isn't to say that I didn't think of DEN friends. I was at Google Headquarters in New York City. What an honor to have been permitted to visit with administration from my district! We were attending The Google Leadership Symposium, NYC. Of course I thought of DENnis Grice who recently became a Google Certified Teacher through Google Teacher Academy. But there was also this wonderful huge table with bins of Legos out. The Google Tour Guide explained that Googlers are allowed to experiment and explore with Legos to relieve their minds for a few minutes. Google believes this absent minded play may free up the mind to process other great ideas that are brewing in the brain. I love this idea. I will be implementing it next year at school. Look at that fabulous guitar that Andrew Phoenix created during the maker faire at #DENSI2014. Imagine what my staff could create while letting other thoughts simmer for awhile. I look forward to finding out.

So these photos are for DENnis Grice and Andrew Phoenix in lieu of yesterday's post:

#RememberDEN, #DENsigh for DENnis Grice

#RememberDEN, #DENsigh for Andrew Phoenix

Now for today's #RememberDEN, #DENsigh. I was looking for things to revamp/update our professional development space. I came across this monkey at a store that made me smile and think of all those beautiful customized sock monkeys that were created. So today's smile was brought to me by Zulma Whiteford. Every year I am impressed with what one small group of people can do. Lunches packed, monkeys made, books collected. Each year the Leadership Council service project gets better and better. Thank you Zulma for spearheading it all. Know that your efforts are appreciated and many are affected. Both those that receive the offerings and those that participate.

#RememberDEN, #DENsigh for Zulma Whiteford

#DENSigh2

Trying to remember to stick with the blog challenge. Probably a good idea since this was my idea. Lol.
So as I'm gathering things from my suitcases, I come a crossed this:

Haha I totally forgot that I had a Starbuck's card with me. 

But of course seeing this reminds me of Tim Childers.

Have you taken up the challenge of sharing a photo a day that reminds you of a #DENSI2014 friend?

#DENsigh

Love it! Last evening LeaAnne Daughrity suggested that maybe we should use the hashtag #DENsigh for this blog/photo challenge. I think that's perfect memories of friends from DENSI as a DENsigh. Thanks LeaAnne.

So here is today's photo post. While we were on our road trip. We stopped off in Gatlinburg, TN. One of the many fun attractions they have is a Hollywood Star Car Museum. Of course finding the Shelby from Gone in 60s Seconds made me think of our adorable WDEN weather girl. Shelby Bailey, this photo is for you:

Remember DEN

I'll have a blog post soon about my adventures at #DENSI2014, Discovery Educator Network Summer Institute 2014. It was such an amazing time of learning and laughing. I need some time to digest all that I learned and formulate my notes into something that resembles English. Then I'll be glad to post and share. But soon after DENSI wrapped, I found myself taking pictures of things that made me think of DENSI friends. So I posted a challenge on Facebook:

Love that you can always count on the DEN. I couldn't find my original post to include it here. Thankfully Nicole Pennea Richardson was able to locate it for me. So here is my original Facebook posting: "I have a challenge for my ‪#‎DENSI2014‬ friends if anyone is interested. I try not to post when I am out of town (Internet Security) so this project in my head will begin in a few days when we return to NY. But as I visit through TN I find myself snapping pictures that make me think of DENSI friends. I found a fact about bees at the Guinness World Record exhibit (thought of Cheryl), found a silver Shelby at the Hollywood Star Cars exhibit (thought of Shelby), took a picture at dinner of a disco ball (thought of Kristy).Susan Gauthier just posted that she can't eat s'mores without thinking of me.... So here my idea. A small challenge I propose. Let's print out the attendee list from http://densi2014.com (thanks so much for LeaAnne and Dave building that wonderful site) and each day snap a picture that in some way makes us think of a DEN friend. For those that are just getting started blogging you might find it useful for something to spark the next 150 days of blogging. Just an idea. But who wants to accept the challenge?"

I was away enjoying a roadtrip back from TN with my husband. Wifi was wonky along the way. But now that I have returned, it is time to take up my own challenge. So here are a few post #DENSI reflections for REMEMBER DEN.

This was the first photo that I took that made me think of a DEN friend. Can you guess which friend I was thinking of?

Yep, I was thinking of Kristy Vincent - of course. She had the most amazingly creative costume for the Music Themed Costume Party at DENSI2014.

The next photo was taken for Cheryl Lykowski:

During the #DENSI2014 DENovator faire she created solo bee condos. I thought that she just might appreciate this interesting fact that I learned while at the Guinness Book of World Records.

This photo was taken in rememberance of all my DENSI friends that will be looking forward to #SharkWeek:

While in Virginia, I kept finding signs about Frederick's County. Of course this made me think of my wonderful roomie for this year - Sheila Fredericks:

While shopping in Pennsylvania, I found a Bacon Candle. Yes, Yankee Candle apparently has a candle called, "MMM, BACON". Although this brings many DEN friends to mind. My first reaction was I need a photo of that for Steve Dembo:

Yes, my husband has warped my conscious memory. I usually see phone boxes and think, "Why isn't it a blue police box? I want a Tardis." But now my first thought was "Wow, I need this for my DEN friends from the United Kingdom." It was such an honor to meet you and connect with you. I look forward to continuing our dialogue we began about education philosophy differences. This photo goes out to our new UK DENfriends:

I hope to keep finding images that in my eye bring thoughts of DEN friends to mind. I will be trying to share REMEMBER DEN moments along the way.

ISTE2014... so it begins

What begins? #ISTE2014 began for me last night. It was our last day of school for this year. It should be time to put our feet up and relax. Nope... As a connected educator and a perpetual learner it was time to head off for the wonderful ISTE conference. After the close of school, I ran home. Rechecked to make sure I packed everything I might need. Headed to the airport. Met up with colleagues I am lucky enough to call friends. And away to ISTE we go...

I admit this educator who normally runs on just a few hours sleep, slept quite well for the night. Woke up and headed to the conference center to check in. 

What a great feeling to connect with friends I haven't seen in what feels like forever (even if maybe it was just since July).  We scoped out the lay of the land. Participated in some interesting discussions. Networked with friends. Twitter, Facebook, The ISTE Networking Game... I'm glad the servers could handle us all (for the most part). I had the pleasure of running into so many of my beloved Discovery Education friends. I lost count! What an amazing feeling.

Next it was on to a party hosted by Class Dojo. How nice to make new friends! 

Then we returned to put our feet up on the balcony. Watch a beautiful sunset. And relax for a little bit.

Of course I had to round out the night on social media and blogging. But it was nice to spend some time today connecting in the real world. I think perhaps we all need to remember to put down our devices for a moment and enjoy life as it happens. 

Otherwise, you might miss the view like this...

Savor the moments when we take time to reflect and review.

T-minus... (cross post)

Forgive me - I felt this should appear on my personal education blog as well as my Discovery Education Blog, http://denblogs.com/neene.

The ISTE 2014 conference is about to be underway. The Discovery Educator Network Summer Institute (DENSI) is nearly underway. What a busy exhilarating time for teachers. In younger years I use to so look forward to Summer Vacation. The last day of school for a year meant freedom. It meant relaxation. It meant beach time. It meant reading time. Now, in my recent years, I look upon the last days of school differently. They are now a blur of preparation to go begin MY learning processing. For the last 9 months I have focused on the learning of our students and my fellow teachers and staff. Of course I kept learning in small bits during this time. For example, I “attend” #DENchat, Thursday night Twitter Chats to continue learning from my PLN. But the summer is time to focus on what I am interested in learning. Our school wraps things up for students on Friday. Yes, Friday… please give me patience to wait that long. But then I board the plane and I head off for adventures. Not rest and relaxation at the beach. Oh, no, not me. I head off for more hustle and bustle and chaos and overwhelming technology learning options. Yes I attend ISTE2014. I would not have it any other way. There is so much available: informal moments in between sessions, formal sessions, poster sessions, live face-to-face events, workshops, blogging areas, playgrounds, vendor booths, spotlight showcases and more.

If you are attending also, here are a few tips I have learned after attending a few ISTE conferences:

• *Bring business cards – You will meet many many folks that you may want to followup with. (Consider creating a QR Code – the digital version of a business card)
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• *Create personal labels – There will be many many vendors requesting your information. How many times can you write your name, address, and email address over and over again. Quite a few will let you afix your preprinted label to their lists and/or cards.
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• *Wear appropriate shoes – I love heels. They look amazing. But for long days at the ISTE conference center – opt for comfort. You will be glad you did.
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• *Water bottles can be a fashion statement. Does yours have bling? Pretty colors? Your school logo? Your favorite vendor’s logo? Does yours clip onto your bag? And the best part they serve a purpose. It is important to stay hydrated. Remember this year is being hosted by lovely Atlanta, Georgia. It’s not called “Hot-lanta” for nothing.
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• *Google Calendar – Please do not over book yourself. Leave yourself some time to digest and absorb what you have been exposed to during the conference. You can plan out your events to make sure the items you truly want to attend do not overlap. Also save (and saver) some time for blogging, twitter chatting, sharing, and reflecting.

Speaking of taking a breather – I saved myself a few days and then after #ISTE2014 wraps, I head to Tennessee for DENSI2014. As if ISTE wasn’t a fabulous few days of high-impact learning – bring on #DENSI2014! A week long of the best, most indepth learning I experience as a teacher all year. I look forward to this even with such glee. The conversations leading up to this event are so much fun. They help long time DEN leadership council members to reconnect. And I think it helps those that have never attended a DENSI to pick up some of our enthusiasm. New members are welcomed with open arms. The world of DENSI is a world of acceptance and love. It’s like an automatic golden ticket to the greatest family of educators around. I can’t wait to meet all our new friends and reconnect with longtime DEN friends. Would time just get here already?!!

This year I will be assisting with leading one of the DENSI2014 teams. I look forward to us all getting to know each other better. I feel like I’ll be a Teacher Summer Camp counselor this year. I hope my team will have an amazing time together.

The  ISTE and DENSI count down is on. The count down is nearing it’s final stages. Synchronize watches, and twitter feeds, and edmodo groups, and all that other great technology stuff. So excited to see what we will learn this year…

Overstimulation

I know that I am older now. The music I enjoyed is quickly (sadly) becoming elevator music. This is a detail that I despise. But none-the-less it is happening. So I know that I am slowly entering that decent into the mindset of "My Generation..." However, here is my tale from this weekend.

I enjoy sitting out in the backyard of our apartment, relaxing and reading. It is something that last year between time management, bad weather, illness (I got hit with a bunch of summer colds), lethargy, and bugs I just did not get to do too enough of during my months "off". I had all of these plans of creating a backyard oasis. None of the details were implemented. So this year, I decided to start sooner (we teach until June 27 so Summer break is still quite a ways off for me). I purchased a large planter container at my local dollar store. I have these ideas to build a fairy garden in the container for some interest in the backyard. I tried our dollar store, Target, Kmart, CVS, Riteaid, and more. Somehow there is a considerable lack of dollhouse furniture. What? Isn't this a standard for young children? Apparently not anymore. As I walked the aisles of Target today, this blog post circulated and formulated in my head.

I know so many parents these days feel the need to raise their own little genius. But this desire to be Einstein comes at what cost? And even Einstein had his moments of play. Wasn't he quoted as having said, "Play is the highest form of research." Dollhouses taught mechanics - this opens this way, this pulls there. Dollhouses taught math and spacial relationships - will my furniture fit? If I create a rug how long and wide should it be? If I put the couch here where will the table fit. Dollhouses taught color and aesthetics - Will these colors clash? Will that be seen? Oh this might match!

Instead, what is readily available? Toy versions of electronics (Believe me I am pro these devices but as in all things - with moderation). Legos now have blinking lights. Regular and pastel Legos aren't engaging enough anymore? They have to light up?!

Dolls dressed more like tarts and ladies of the night then Strawberry Shortcake and Lemon Meringue Pie (for those that don't know these were dolls when I was young). Which don't even get me started on that franchise. Strawberry Shortcake was a doll that I could relate to with her plump cheeks and little dresses. Now she's in pants and with a much thinner physique. Urgh! (But that is another post for another day!)

Back to my original theme. Must we overstimulate children? Rows of flashcards. Rows of flashing toys. Rows of dolls with too much makeup. Rows of vampire dolls.  Can we please return to the days where children (boys or girls) were allowed to use their imagination to explore and play? My friend recently relayed a tale about her children and a playdate. She sent them out to play in the backyard. They didn't know what to do with themselves. They looked at her like they were being punished. They were being kept from their computers, video games, e-book readers, etc. They waited by the backdoor until they were permitted to return to the land of plugged in devices. Go play!!!!

My suggestion? Please invest in jump ropes, jax, balls, chalk and teach your children to think outside the box. This is just as valuable a skill as filling in the right bubble to answer the Common Core questions. But when students are at home please oh please just let them be kids. And I will try to find ways to help students play while covering the concepts required by the Common Core to share with my teachers.