best of pinterest - curb appeal

Hey sunshine! Did you have a good weekend? Spend anytime on Pinterest? I did (follow me <a href="http://pinterest.com/ladybaum/boards/" target="_blank">here</a>) and I actually had an occasion to search for something on one of my boards. It got me thinking - I pin like a mad woman, but how often do I ever really go back and look thru what I've pinned?<br /><br />Not often enough is the answer. Why am I pinning all of these wonderful images if not to use them for inspiration/daydreaming.<br /><br />So I've decided I'm going to use Pinterest to create my dream house and today I'm starting with the outside.<br /><br />Something a bit farmhouse like is striking my fancy.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87H0NxuA_Jf_G7e-sJUJSwg5k1_lgpmqlyXismJHuHBY4XfXx3iuttbzl9Y37KRbyigFhpHr3Toh_ln3gjZ9RXDCvuw65G20LxGUnGvbvbolBYAey8g4154AW5GPNuQ8pqC32DtK8QdGa/s1600/188461b5b6c99c2c1ae905714b634e32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87H0NxuA_Jf_G7e-sJUJSwg5k1_lgpmqlyXismJHuHBY4XfXx3iuttbzl9Y37KRbyigFhpHr3Toh_ln3gjZ9RXDCvuw65G20LxGUnGvbvbolBYAey8g4154AW5GPNuQ8pqC32DtK8QdGa/s400/188461b5b6c99c2c1ae905714b634e32.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Or maybe cedar shake. Either way, I want lots of windows and a nice big front porch.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWU2WR0SYE9RaaGzeoyH3lStoEArZPcL2oYlUKG9pc_qeB3GoipDQxRayLA7W4fHun60_PIEq5pbeU5lto_jRl0xZL09EPkTUrLTLOmaXntUYzb1m17SkzAjiIrt4njdbQp33C7Tkdeuv_/s1600/ee6f199e9f574e692930571abb508a0e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWU2WR0SYE9RaaGzeoyH3lStoEArZPcL2oYlUKG9pc_qeB3GoipDQxRayLA7W4fHun60_PIEq5pbeU5lto_jRl0xZL09EPkTUrLTLOmaXntUYzb1m17SkzAjiIrt4njdbQp33C7Tkdeuv_/s400/ee6f199e9f574e692930571abb508a0e.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><br /> Of course this frankenstein house is on a grand lot with a long winding path,<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeEvDdJRmzdmg1dP9j-cLEQzixUvYjgMugEkItnZW2NJbkiudiyW_k1PkHfbJrDZwpLIyj79R9O5DoaMk8ajFrpBs6i-L6h2lMGYRB7_ot-wr6SPT382z_foGzHNlzJUyLty8zmy0gWZ9/s1600/b5a8ecfe4a76d1422837a1ddcf4aeb12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeEvDdJRmzdmg1dP9j-cLEQzixUvYjgMugEkItnZW2NJbkiudiyW_k1PkHfbJrDZwpLIyj79R9O5DoaMk8ajFrpBs6i-L6h2lMGYRB7_ot-wr6SPT382z_foGzHNlzJUyLty8zmy0gWZ9/s400/b5a8ecfe4a76d1422837a1ddcf4aeb12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />which takes you to a front door with some major presence<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBajwCrYsk7zPgb0knxYGUwklZyWcqZ4KCBMcgWYpL_RxU5CcQ0uSG5QAtKRo12UxTBw8Rp_l7j_1SeDJQon0aV6Ylyuij1yIGOPgBT6M4Z8RsgC__R4IdGUjgVbPtRFJg9lN0GScqIKr/s1600/3791e24f38f01b9201b941e2ca5438d0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBajwCrYsk7zPgb0knxYGUwklZyWcqZ4KCBMcgWYpL_RxU5CcQ0uSG5QAtKRo12UxTBw8Rp_l7j_1SeDJQon0aV6Ylyuij1yIGOPgBT6M4Z8RsgC__R4IdGUjgVbPtRFJg9lN0GScqIKr/s400/3791e24f38f01b9201b941e2ca5438d0.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitRMQryVIlioI-SSaGk0iDO8NA-Sqvyg84SGQd-gEkxFJ9wg_fJgNLDeU6bivEwJUuSZtNJGNt6VRMjHoJatRD4a9jAvxk_L6Yb9z1ZAjFcUTOQ1LgLGXhGEyOlcA6xesuzYd0xHq7jJuS/s1600/b5640df9e38042d93ff27e7ab1140d21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitRMQryVIlioI-SSaGk0iDO8NA-Sqvyg84SGQd-gEkxFJ9wg_fJgNLDeU6bivEwJUuSZtNJGNt6VRMjHoJatRD4a9jAvxk_L6Yb9z1ZAjFcUTOQ1LgLGXhGEyOlcA6xesuzYd0xHq7jJuS/s400/b5640df9e38042d93ff27e7ab1140d21.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aHTd15owg0j5SB39FWu26uibhQvjGblOJiGESQ0BswSzqirU7dpV1PPOjykKINP3SxO-28SbRZgjrydW6qb_q8DGjNWvTxgJr5pKbyTTH0VtDDXI1lszOR6SHLeplv_C2LvyGLTUvjGu/s1600/d8a32a090d2bc0931bd32b29fdc91b15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aHTd15owg0j5SB39FWu26uibhQvjGblOJiGESQ0BswSzqirU7dpV1PPOjykKINP3SxO-28SbRZgjrydW6qb_q8DGjNWvTxgJr5pKbyTTH0VtDDXI1lszOR6SHLeplv_C2LvyGLTUvjGu/s400/d8a32a090d2bc0931bd32b29fdc91b15.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">and window boxes everywhere.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-DPPsRnYrsZRtZ2jSxkXex0OAXpfbY2m3tAcxJfYsOmGDSNZhBoloq6rAiT9Ye1MWWeRhHWQUpfwZTfwvwEIMzE6ObzjvplXybVVg2J5oz3wIqL3NXLHUxOjsT40CT2Xqsc5gUw7kyVm/s1600/3bfbf648c316853296b936959858a067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-DPPsRnYrsZRtZ2jSxkXex0OAXpfbY2m3tAcxJfYsOmGDSNZhBoloq6rAiT9Ye1MWWeRhHWQUpfwZTfwvwEIMzE6ObzjvplXybVVg2J5oz3wIqL3NXLHUxOjsT40CT2Xqsc5gUw7kyVm/s400/3bfbf648c316853296b936959858a067.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><br />There is a courtyard in the back with a lovely pool<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirnZix6JPdwytc2tlkAujlbSOgR-S7i-lxfLIoVPBYAqPDFsRHL_q6HCf7eU4Rpt1G6ey-RlVR9zqdI331gYxj9BMGFmvyhcXRdk9Ekk-bg6YRxMj4Zv4qsj2mPnO9AKLlr2ZLODnBKUT/s1600/9150a32036bc44448f3589f014b2e31e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirnZix6JPdwytc2tlkAujlbSOgR-S7i-lxfLIoVPBYAqPDFsRHL_q6HCf7eU4Rpt1G6ey-RlVR9zqdI331gYxj9BMGFmvyhcXRdk9Ekk-bg6YRxMj4Zv4qsj2mPnO9AKLlr2ZLODnBKUT/s400/9150a32036bc44448f3589f014b2e31e.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />surrounded by perfectly manicured gardens that my tan house boy CoCo maintains.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOOSuk5KDUiy4nfSjh8uLAzlUfmSIhX-qEt6GyRUJh2OZ2JvvWPiBTZXgBWOQaemsHmj-dwjg3H9g6kC1mT0YoqnuIHSKFBwZfWf5CPJ1pwjKwF_B2iH50STuQj5omnXb54qMOSfaZOIn/s1600/c7171dc9b5873ddc7353d0aa7247427a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOOSuk5KDUiy4nfSjh8uLAzlUfmSIhX-qEt6GyRUJh2OZ2JvvWPiBTZXgBWOQaemsHmj-dwjg3H9g6kC1mT0YoqnuIHSKFBwZfWf5CPJ1pwjKwF_B2iH50STuQj5omnXb54qMOSfaZOIn/s400/c7171dc9b5873ddc7353d0aa7247427a.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />Beyond will be an herb garden that would make Ina proud<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqbcmgdCXQ12XJ-Y7lZj5g7tillt_kz531l-r4WrkUubKh4HJLieiGT37eRnXReZsuyOBtd3VUDSYiucNFYfjKK0TzTtEIQi5k29z7jKohjE3NQr8k8qsYonQqHCGhTg7HqrVt9p71uE9/s1600/33fb5ccb529ab2aee7f85f340b7dc31b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqbcmgdCXQ12XJ-Y7lZj5g7tillt_kz531l-r4WrkUubKh4HJLieiGT37eRnXReZsuyOBtd3VUDSYiucNFYfjKK0TzTtEIQi5k29z7jKohjE3NQr8k8qsYonQqHCGhTg7HqrVt9p71uE9/s400/33fb5ccb529ab2aee7f85f340b7dc31b.jpg" width="302" /></a></div><br />and more hydrangeas that I can count.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHH8m77o9hHBVDur0tZN4d8Qe73qtQXxEKNOpwbre157aWD0uphyphenhyphenQuEDS_nGCRH-Lhjx8HrLC8I3tMGoTZqkAxfeHVYdCmMjZMf2hpKOvKX8ScR7Vj8n-NCCNOr04CS6Ic57quWF792_0/s1600/4ec16655d88458c6f26e71f659620019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHH8m77o9hHBVDur0tZN4d8Qe73qtQXxEKNOpwbre157aWD0uphyphenhyphenQuEDS_nGCRH-Lhjx8HrLC8I3tMGoTZqkAxfeHVYdCmMjZMf2hpKOvKX8ScR7Vj8n-NCCNOr04CS6Ic57quWF792_0/s400/4ec16655d88458c6f26e71f659620019.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />There also needs to be a gate somewhere<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwd8zVtHYQe17Kt04_O3ktTpMwFKLD7Rj1XgArvJ2S3fYS19jD7RnC8Y75p2o-L5_DbqxLZJIm6ROkJty6ykpS2ILYt3MnYwhTZxGCYbjOL5svy-YfRPRIm7n9LT1KKdQMHWWR6pPuJOuA/s1600/6736ffa7015d82be778ee1d6616aeb4a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwd8zVtHYQe17Kt04_O3ktTpMwFKLD7Rj1XgArvJ2S3fYS19jD7RnC8Y75p2o-L5_DbqxLZJIm6ROkJty6ykpS2ILYt3MnYwhTZxGCYbjOL5svy-YfRPRIm7n9LT1KKdQMHWWR6pPuJOuA/s400/6736ffa7015d82be778ee1d6616aeb4a.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1rL6NVe6Lf0qiEWODSNS6a3ZzIRbx6jpRkeAAw7R6sky2EZQN5aA-0qIrHv06b_MVrLrZ4kLntJPOQp_WDuejpbdP1NXvfIn6RZFstfhxV7oY8oFREU5_49ASIiu73iIj_pb12s54uIra/s1600/67058d9d374d5c1b93930d8fc0ac8f34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1rL6NVe6Lf0qiEWODSNS6a3ZzIRbx6jpRkeAAw7R6sky2EZQN5aA-0qIrHv06b_MVrLrZ4kLntJPOQp_WDuejpbdP1NXvfIn6RZFstfhxV7oY8oFREU5_49ASIiu73iIj_pb12s54uIra/s400/67058d9d374d5c1b93930d8fc0ac8f34.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />And a carriage house/garage, for CoCo's apartment of course.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBdQCkzq4I_HBxbS5A7bL0cA_J9AdPjVF2V0JEMCRl5DkQ-FhBdBP3JruwXA0LprDLfiR63Iy5D3nZf5_5-dH5wlRJyxXcwEUSHY4vqTmz2Ub1IOTnjp1t5HBVsJnA0OhbA9Imwa2KzDhv/s1600/495df6471dfbd2466eb3dcae93211096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBdQCkzq4I_HBxbS5A7bL0cA_J9AdPjVF2V0JEMCRl5DkQ-FhBdBP3JruwXA0LprDLfiR63Iy5D3nZf5_5-dH5wlRJyxXcwEUSHY4vqTmz2Ub1IOTnjp1t5HBVsJnA0OhbA9Imwa2KzDhv/s400/495df6471dfbd2466eb3dcae93211096.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubApfcWO2Bv1vMqUK_I2KhYTBRHIyd6YF3rjtwaX-jsK2q8b6tpgalT9NCwzSz8dy5sUwcvYYWSvy9vst4hSu3Ze-hU2SnrSduBgjKKF6q3yg01EXLhJ_cmIGGICT_caGXDhvzvK16Jj2/s1600/e199c376d5635b6a233e5c829c154988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubApfcWO2Bv1vMqUK_I2KhYTBRHIyd6YF3rjtwaX-jsK2q8b6tpgalT9NCwzSz8dy5sUwcvYYWSvy9vst4hSu3Ze-hU2SnrSduBgjKKF6q3yg01EXLhJ_cmIGGICT_caGXDhvzvK16Jj2/s400/e199c376d5635b6a233e5c829c154988.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pinterest.com/ladybaum/outside/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">All pins via my Outside board.</span></a></div><br />What about you? What would your Pinterest dream house look like?

best of pinterest - curb appeal

Hey sunshine! Did you have a good weekend? Spend anytime on Pinterest? I did (follow me here ) and I actually had an occasion to search for ...

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The Beer Mine...Offering Folks a Respite From the Heat

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0VYFYmuwK56g6xXFcnCjpBf1t2zr6eDk4BxAcThoAZGLO6_poBleYzVsO-1e2vTJzuqJ1Ztv2B6VSbli4RRPaQfH6xF966d1JxgYd-q5JNa9cD9F7Xug2LEyJsA5quxvW9FJYCW2gwgA/s1600/Beer+Mine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0VYFYmuwK56g6xXFcnCjpBf1t2zr6eDk4BxAcThoAZGLO6_poBleYzVsO-1e2vTJzuqJ1Ztv2B6VSbli4RRPaQfH6xF966d1JxgYd-q5JNa9cD9F7Xug2LEyJsA5quxvW9FJYCW2gwgA/s400/Beer+Mine.jpg" width="400" /></a>Cheers Chuckleheads and welcome to Summer 2013.  A heat wave has finally hit the Greater Bagwine Metroplex as temps will be in the 90’s all week.<br /><br />On top of that, the owner of the locally famous and world wide infamous Beer Mine is on vacation this week so that leaves yours truly in charge of operations through this Saturday.<br /><br />I feel that I should make my mark in the drive through beverage business and enact some changes while Drive-By Mikey is away.<br /><br />So, The Beer Mine will be celebrating a different theme every day this week…<br /><br /><b>Monday is Free Wing Day!!</b>  If you so choose, I will, like a cannon, wing a 40 oz. bottle of King Cobra Malt Liquor at you and if you catch it, it’s yours FREE.  If it shatters and forever disfigures your face, you owe me a buck ninety-two.<br /><br /><b>Tuesday is Buy One Get One Free Day!!</b>  Anything and everything we sell at The Beer Mine is two for one; of course, Tuesday is also Twice the Usual Price on All Products Day, so it’s a win-win for both myself and the patrons.<br /><br /><b>Wednesday is Hump Day!!</b>  Sometimes, I just love to give of myself and go all out for the customers.<br /><br /><b>Thursday is Thirsty Thursday!!</b>  With every purchase of $100 or more, you will receive a free dum dum sucker and a voucher for a free bottle of ice cold Ice Mountain water on your next visit.<br /><br /><b>Friday is Freaky Friday!!</b>  I know that when you come through this Friday you are going to happily stupefied when you notice upon your leaving that I have given you back then entire amount of change you were due.  Sure, it’ll cut down on my “tips”, but I am willing to sacrifice for you, the customer.<br /><br /><b>Saturday is Fire Sale Day!!</b>  Why a Fire Sale you ask?  Because, after working sixty-seven hours at The Beer Mine this week, I am going to torch the joint to the ground.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>So there you have it…a week of good-natured celebration as we endure the week of heat that has come to visit the Bagwine, Ohio area.<br /><br />While you are deciding which day or days are best for you to through, you can listen to yesterday’s IWS Radio Show.  Jayman and I bought on the Heatwave of Hilarity.  We along with Chris Matthews, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton talked about the George Zimmerman verdict.  Ed from Detroit chimed in as well.<br /><br />Dusty Sandman had the traffic report, Dixie Ozark interviewed Bobby Kraft about his motion picture debut, and we capped things by talking with Mrs. Luis who is married to one of America’s newest citizen, Luis the Beer Mine Iceman.  We also announced the debut of the Paul Piatt Facebook page.<br /><br />If you missed it live you can listen to all of the hot hilarity right here:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="370" src="http://player.cinchcast.com/?show_id=5121383&platformId=1&assetType=single" width="400"></iframe></div><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"><br /></div><i>Cheers!!</i><br /><br />Matt-Man<br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@mattman_iws</span></a><br /><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mattmaniws" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">My Facebook Page</span></a> </span></div>

The Beer Mine...Offering Folks a Respite From the Heat

Cheers Chuckleheads and welcome to Summer 2013.  A heat wave has finally hit the Greater Bagwine Metroplex as temps will be in the 90’s all ...

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Gleanings from ISTE 2013 #1: What exactly is ISTE?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqB1MW-uc4na9swivCO9kyV2iqcemjq6DjQAjXm0LoromIbRfW0KixYZjhzbrTLclYqJ_vwLvkm4KJmkvZwbr1jBRhq9kbj6f7vo9SKxsH3VEQ2VK6RIIP2LXoTSm4fdLXZ1pAmhBn-OQ/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgckuejfZGc__ouEQ4QMrhrBPbZhFgF3mwdmQyTJH0MDUZbh1Rj1xcf5M2zP357Mi0kG9HdFhmf84oWOHVRYj9yRCNeiD4WmJj4QqWV4swdcYeSZGh-RDWFqWU9GR2UiG0Ypb-9Bq_Mo7k/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="240" /></span></a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Submitted by Fiona Beal</span></i><br />Recently I had the great privilege of attending my very frst ISTE Technology in Education Conference in San Antonio Texas. It is said to be the biggest EdTech conference in the world!.  In South Africa a big conference numbers around 600, so to be thrust into the midst of a conference of 20,000 delegates inclusive of exhibitors, with well over 700 sessions and 150 additional workshops on technology trends, tools, and much, much more WAS quite overwhelming at times but always exhiliarating!  I thank SchoolNet for contributing to this trip and for giving me time off to attend. It was four days of professional development par excellence!  </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the first in a series of posts on what I learned at ISTE.  In this post I will express some of the wonder I felt at being at such a large conference. In the next post I’ll write a reflection on this unforgettable experience. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Where was ISTE held?</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year the Conference was held in the beautiful city of San Antonio in Texas. It is the 7th largest city in the United States, but it has a country feel with a river winding its way through the city, birds chirping happily in the trees as one walks along the roads, and exquisite flowers in full bloom everywhere. (My hotel was a ten minute walk from the conference centre.) The conference itself took place in the most enormous Conference centre I have EVER seen with a river running through the middle of it. Everything is bigger and better in Texas it seems. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFWAhytd01HvgEv4sid8nU5GBxbqUY-qgk9YI4_NvsNsPhhFJ-YmnLbHxGw-qxoYtukl2mhH4MIaBLcUjpsSpjWiGTgjBJAuBa4z-KxbUF0Ni1a1Ek1cHLKEVWD66IbNA7QCHpeaHN_zw/s1600-h/image%25255B6%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrTgrPxAgVb7Yteh0KqFh0NrYNd5qC2S6ebWEK0fOldwJWdcG70gsdWUtZeYPH3AixBKqDQPScwmuSBWI2jlFnnhPMhJut80kXBHbfs3dzqgTJUXkcya-_S-wYvg30rEwYEP7nM4mJO0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHDSiW2PxiBIroqVQ6cXxty2IXBuwlb-1lbI35d7Hmu58sYtB6kY8td6uICiwmBzxdtVCzl4QVT0BHAPhmN2IaX_gPzDqzU021JmuS_H3YqJFH8OxqihNjZKFVVVw1atlR5rg0eSeHOpQ/s1600-h/image%25255B10%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUPP3VLSJLonG2efSx-YJOnvaVg-ZYarjqSR0JUplF_xNL8FYH8ARQyHONOILzEbB0i1Ylq9RPrmQ8G4-56KPruJHmCyoKE3n7AJlS_DJfCSOVlEqBPxBCoJfZhjGv_1G3P4a_GfBjuU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="218" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMAPIrMl41Cfb2nkJqb9_IHfgI4nDjGRh4yc2GndnzACcGOfRkHpWiKuV994zY4W2yRVFVB8esUK4MnD3GJaPjhvT7fVDXCCLBdL5PrVrQ9HjaElmMiRMVwY88I77N85MU9iNvz3oqkg/s1600-h/image%25255B44%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipgmCaHw9dA0ugHEaaVIxtnMBab7SDOtpvzs2fpCCXhW4RyMlPIMEctJGVSV6zcROOrkd__kQPizk3xmMgKxWh2751WKHrxxifuAGxjik-r_-56NVXGp6w66nf8x8y1co61-hh4G9Q8cQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="250" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvT-R5nme5SCBSvZ2vQ6LYnVwSPCT9eNAWCjtwGhTh8Cfr66fUlEUSPRYjy8lG6lj-61mWVB5HgL0H1NjSByUD3IvgWT9TKsmhKQnUGTQbU8l4Nj-8CalvVGbUblRGunYW6gXnalIqVC0/s1600-h/image%25255B43%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HMVcIqwrs8Ohf5nk8ElovqrDw-NhNQ6jYpT5JdVd89Zl6jObmjJVtJKewlDlKta7i-Y_1HWBYDLEP-rrxxNqHQYp0ueQ88oxNv9ozrpRzpuyc1KbnYE0BtdPJ3O8qqo1M93jiKxjdPc/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="197" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was sure glad to see these ‘Ask Me’ volunteers dotted around the Conference halls. I think they worked pretty hard directing everyone to the multitude of venues.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwj5OzKNA4K9ZeLK4TGg5kFx6vF4aA3_bkNY9nO-i4lO39ncVzo9mWGJlnB8Ifd9pnlRjh2tf4iOXeHx_j7j0QBmd0LBcMiB7Q0bUrUt0ZWyh_wLKxEsgKVmHqHM0c69Roe5jYBfgnkEo/s1600-h/image%25255B17%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd_dTim32-J46Z6lRlbnuGNsMNkQxkpm5yZNjIyEuJo74MgNz3sfYVKt0CpZM-TVXFrhjDg4nITPBptkLy3cO2SIv4xP-op9CnKdSRbq4BAU1USEfnv8xMd-CUy101EIZURPclLEVYB8I/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="225" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwX1ymwHGY-_jmY4kINezC_hw25y5ZTiHd4LzX1JAoLQOVmAs7U1KfeilLy91QHtWdcjJIvYqmKCKkeRrOSoxU8Jsckr9ZoCiMw72LBACOe1hqdfseSOQfwFQNqbDAkL1ZP1QkH14mkYs/s1600-h/image%25255B16%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYiknNuEQw2gc2r5zN748i1tYPgw8-XiNy_qXVQh-IvKArFIWK6YWoxGg_Qx0i2i-phZ83YMqp5zB_V1uOXZwhG644LxwVy-PSzLY7X5bliwY7R-fJwbRFgbU6zyjFGMQRA25EeRIHKoA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><br /></strong></span><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The ISTE App</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I loved the idea of an ISTE App to download on one’s tablet prior to the conference taking place. This had everything one needed to know on it including a conference planner. One thing that I found quite fascinating is that there were no rooms with computers in them at the conference. EVERYONE had their own device. One could book for three free BYOD sessions and any of the paid sessions. I avoided the paid sessions with the exchange rate between rand and dollar being so AWFUL but there were hundreds of free sessions of every kind to attend. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_Qxfv4u8hyKKvWTR9O49gO68lG31BMsJQYb-0PmJtgFjDfZXCiA5_SP81Rvg9P7gSz9VqfyK8XDPsukFOj2z7RGIPDNwlWVHV3vuFEHpZrDojCFpip0fEbbh8IsBzyYlqvYQbv0DZUg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><u><br /></u></strong></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><u><br /></u></strong></span><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Types of sessions</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The organisation at ISTE was quite unbelievably amazing!  As a delegate from Africa you can imagine how awestruck I felt most of the time. Such a choice of sessions! These were some of the the unbelievable options:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 502px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="253"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three keynote sessions</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BYOD workshops either paid or free</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Special focus group sessions </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poster sessions</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Start up pitches for new companies</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Global collaboration spoltlights</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unconference on the day preceding ISTE</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Corporate spotlights</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aspire sessions</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sessions Learning </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Technology Playgrounds </span><br /><br /></td> <td valign="top" width="247"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bloggers cafe sessions</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Events of all kinds</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parties at night</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Food centres</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Research papers</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gatherings</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photo and QR code walks</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Panel discussions</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bookstore of Iste books.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exhibitors</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Students show cases</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Actually there were many more opportunities than this…too many to mention! Basically one had to mark off a list of choices on the conference planner and make one’s choices before the conference started in order to stay on top of things. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Photo walk</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I loved the photo walk on the first day where we explored the river walk area with a tour guide and pooled all our photos. This was such a highlight. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakXDx0VCaldWQjFU1QT12xVVShtfjEJ4jEzAUJ1C4nmdJdnLvbcvNtHcbux_gLxnJZon3ZRwMXBVmhcsS08yf73I-YbvwEO1bwV8g_NNkB1a0YcccqaWShoWaCYcRBk7DNFYZw3O9piE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></span></div></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH94jRnX0CAY4JWo23ZHJPtbL8AJYkERD-DhsO5roClGF_PLnw8t1L94rw44M3zgP9XO5JIibpnOnc8lWQJeAq1g2ka_K6BS3yN6KNUT2GBTayRV2G4bSMq92fV84vRn5Bdh_QD9ucOHg/s1600-h/image%25255B122%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><strong><br /></strong></u></span><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Keynote Speakers</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The three keynote sessions were such a highlight. One hard to start queing an hour or two before to get a seat inside the 6000-seater auditorium.  There were also viewing rooms allocated in different places. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoPUmQbJNF8dLWbQauQiQgc1FpsH6KfG85a4Tkc30cLpRwZ8hjHOA2Re9vSaSlKRxp5scUYbNZemyghkPrX6OuBxbqe3Up3f1FdznbXjmU71c5ILbaSt8AJ73y5mu65pXe28hB4KUEJw/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The opening keynote was from </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jane McGonical </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on the gamification of education. Wow, this session was SO thought provoking. Jane McGonical quoted an enormous body of research showing how students learn from games in education and why. I’ll do a report back in another post.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0xos_fo2bdZBszAEeEaQdAhRgLBeNBDVXf7xPXoJEDHaX_Jd8SE8GG6xt_P9EcXApG3sOhdzW4Z_vxoupe1-brhN0qH44zstFVInjPwNK4jQb2tl8BwmnrsQcBmsW1qq5GY74X-4csE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ten positive emotions that gamers feel</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steve Johnson</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was the keynote speaker on the second day of the conference on ‘<i>Where do good ideas come from?</i>’. This session was very enlightening. He explored the concept of where and how good ideas originate. Drawing on examples from both inside and outside of education, he identified real-life learning environments that operate as incubators of creativity. He showed how innovative learners solve problems by borrowing ideas from multiple fields of thought, and how both educators and students leverage peer networks to mobilize as agents of change. Basically we learn from others and build on shared knowledge. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowNS_BbxCF5L0Qyaqa2Qy9npezFE8hyWVP08kN_udicY1ZdH4RzgzQUKYlLnVsQYm3VrKtS3xsrNcomgFOSbRJrzByaWCtvknw3RLFhwnqDJM1OpL9RpM_vUSAFVd6D8guPxcDTgEYp8/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The enormously popular </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adam Bellow</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, creator of Educlipper, gave the closing keynote where he invited us to change the world.’<i>You’re Invited to Change the World</i>.’ Adam showcased stories of inspiration from classrooms around the world and invited us to challenge ourselves to make a difference in our schools with creativity and kindness.Adam wore his Google glasses throughout his presentation!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieK-w-JukBrskYrR7yxP7KCoysI_nFuruZE2G6tQwMbkK3O8M4P8_VFcJDycGsGQFgiulBB1Mt1QDUX0YMBgFD7jQH_LNbv8BlhtKHHixCq_R8Yc-Gcpw8-bPpv0YDd9DPmgFFI073tys/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="305" /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All three keynote speakers influenced my thinking enormously.  All three have published books. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="133"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DvRl_aajD1Fp4OkkH1NvQkN4moxDSSbNfQls5lCbexfjX-dRNgu97uGnTV2UiP5VHU-XaponVLDd8iTkQgd5lqdZEZSZbXvgZg8fB5a6hyuETM8zWWiZV96NBIoYe8U2dBFq4PI0sN4/s1600-h/image%25255B76%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZKTuGs5P6rumwticwxP7t-jLgoPvZ1QE2-iqBjJDE7PjN8x65LMYIA0sZ922ImZkB2XmyHgEcdSXQ2LQobpDEnpRcxvKdTMQRsDcDrbsUgQHheuK3QXRuozMlWPEa9cVRYoxXzxN0pU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="138" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="133"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyqloeQfzxxfqB9NRmfpOOhqOv4IWmjy8Pzgngz-YqqUNrb5SdeeDzT5PvheJby9NmJKPVKmDlbE8L0iw6kWuDRE6XBpY5h3F8708iUoOajcAcKQO0B_m1vaiX2YEjxw2TrPuJhTZr6Y0/s1600-h/image%25255B80%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdTBkg86-vbBLtMeB6U_vQ6amMsvl_-fVK2xt_pNdetAuDwbw2YbQCZgGhGb2mLR2NzpIeeQ0b7UiKpbtvyKtP2Cr2_rqtHJs3WGZ3D_juYfpn0lb47G3yPl82JKm2Jf1BD6NdN-9_IU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="145" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="133"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVIpooDHj89i4R1IpCE43a3gLqRes9JJOSo04qPX0L679ocDijJ171nguE7p_7jd6VkBy_qWKRgqA8HlapsYbXszKo-K1FM2zDCY0Ridixl1u57U65zFu4mpylrztxPBiq3nmZu5jB2c/s1600-h/image%25255B87%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGhaiHXxKJGau8CVinn64RpJRyDmKE3yRyRTrfmi61YcGn4odTyzQ7C9p1dzxlhT4aX6wmU-Y4x-D2R5EyXBYvADQ25NqbmYLt3ry5_DRs_IXm-JWLvJhBG87z7FJFWK5BvZ3-Z4HVu9U/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="149" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><u><br /></u></strong></span><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Conference house band</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The conference had a house band for the keynotes – an awesome band of students from some of the local high schools called ‘</span><a href="http://daraniemi.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Dara Niemi Band’</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. I just LOVED their music and their talent!   (And I bought their CD)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOIo_wbXVg_7Eblj7sshhymFG4SjassU3gEZmtOsbp5jUdeWW6SyokJuJSFm2jk6NFHB62MxXJBhIZKTxCpszwFmXSod2NnGQ2OrRc8gjZWehfzvP7iv6PGeGyUahBVSw9jZm2Bp5m18c/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="305" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The band in action</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZrpHJiQBIJeFnPW-rfvxnnLEs1wair9TMvIBZmR8ITKZF_XTqgSCJi3LoT2jg6zbeRCfDXUp-nTZmf6thCGatFN9tyJMMDeB3FNdMud14BHdpL8IvwuY-cngXL5JJMuKpSBwJL1YRdcU/s1600-h/image%25255B72%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwA_5SLXeHpE05j5qV27oGnodZ8EyUHe3By9Je7Am63EoyCkFnBWEa5yvbod2q_I81QMxfMJ2zYLcGsQkbLzP5wXMIjtEqC512FTNwBB74fOX4DZDYTp7GmSJgFlA8PqNRmJj4OglQys/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="203" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signing CDs</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidrBI1uVqIITvGB7MRRdyIVZEWM3OgAsGwNMaMLaZJO2DaDeqVAGBfhGoWQ66IppAGvfzPAIVQFx0yGhYG7iXvU8tMBxgpYRc3t0XMT_HP92jA7_S7EL655HmI76kfAYTUQJaaBIWB0W4/s1600-h/image%25255B73%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is them singing one of their original songs. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TIYtvb0TO58" width="420"></iframe></span><br /><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Publishing with ISTE</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teachers can publish their technology passions in hard cover with ISTE! I think this is an amazing feature of ISTE.  There were all kinds of books written by teachers available at the ISTE book store – I was really tempted to buy some of them. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="133"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkkRoDMy_1eVSxrsGEfXeKePVeA0ft76jUZKCgmTxXOoAS-T_zK8vAELN4j9iIj6TTUAhTT1_IgQ9ldK_FPhn6Q1S3ISwr6NKv9OgB_5kRCbAHxMJ7gGJeZ1v0xng0ueLB94IPIm7JsY/s1600-h/image%25255B90%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6tG-Kb-R1i6k4n50V_Br3QazafdTJ-uZflOHLSHTcIMH8RVIO6oLxXigjj9GViIIYPaMcMrANU39dlFKLox4GReELL-5763y6Q3ukXUH8V2hXSukajxgyL3nFwlZVovu9Wj0eMmXNIE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="132" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="133"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6MXrf5aXdVM-W-uFDCLiOXYJjoHURc57xkWktZbD5HnCGiXmJqyEwsU6Sna0_RZoKWY2raYjL-UPu_TzuDVK91Q6l8UX7KYgu59_O3sbb65msz4dqA6W9OowtJbDcKB7VmLeeoMfKcE/s1600-h/image%25255B93%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1CVxocTKUw5Qeo6cmwHcbeem598ZcIlnSoQD-1Z4hI9cADOZkbtUpzS0a8rgYAy2NcQXOVMi27ETu_NJkcu68kaQ_HhNq2KkkBJ7aWgH6UQkS_SuJ8HNbilJR47_s6l2oiYuUDw_ZTU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="159" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="133"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-6j5r3qB4Q8y7Y1fv2sNaclerj_kYWq-tVfEFZM9i_o6l6JomYDSI54IHz8AfhhN559C5WY1DvHqh4r9cOxb46aYcqvCsmvU3mEh3ne8MaaGUp2X-zViCDaQ6IbJLwp8_P6YIJYA850/s1600-h/image%25255B96%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7NTrrrv5aholo7KPPaeIeKe3tEoCYOFhCFf6N6SVB_pTfq4mp-juxiEYCrQyMG0C0UJ_XdZ70-Y05_Xtk6HYPtJAe2PFweBFenDTIzTUkUPKcF7LGxLcYo6uiOmIgQtmofEsgPZTbXI/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="155" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Bloggers’ Cafe</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was SUCH a popular spot at ISTE where folk could sit and chat, and meet friends and blog etc. Sue Waters from Educblogs organised regular blogger speakers at the Cafe.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJs2l-Je9C4lEwJAJ6Y6hLRcDNF2yCcNgN8XK43KzobiCMHjvFPdtMLp9A0FSFbxvJ_5Ok0_YoIzDIfQliOB3zZrwu4AGP_-UZgHfbl9uGw0Wlj6F2gt_kGGujkSrRjDb_-wR40U8hCrQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Special Interest focus groups</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These were plentiful. I joined quite a few, my number 1 being the<i> Digital Storytelling group</i> and no 2 being the <i>Literacy group</i>. We joined these well before the conference and started receiving emails of events and happenings that would take place at ISTE. As you went around looking at the offerings of the different Special Focus groups and at the Expo, you collected ribbons to add to your name tag – there was a prize for the most ribbons at the end of the Conference – sponsorship to ISTE 2014!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXVxlpcvyYUiF0C72Z1GrRoM4oIMNUoyfusoMxqC0YxsWX-qF-lS4U-FGaAOOE85YJwEm1fcIzboINt6xqcUlBcKCXZe9rQXfxGY01YifwVOTS9rvKDrd6PRTSvzehj36lLxPqEyYs9M/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></div><br /><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Learning Sessions</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a choice! You had to know what you wanted so as to rush there and get a seat. Sometimes there were lon.n.n.g queues. These are just a couple of examples of some I attended.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1JPMu87Cr7Nt17ZTQNRyaABeLTSWy0fOaRQMPxULjEc3T14gdRfvttS-J9eVzxS7ZwZQyiCsX4f47fwOgKJbeZBYVhiHEHGeI6rGwZ9oE4YF5UbUQT7yOYepzNBellUda3FSPYCS9lE/s1600-h/image%25255B167%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LwRg8GjXY7_E4ZaEpGUgXOqg-rrRw4ANtmtbslzQkPLE78OZ_rT2nqsw_b2_hp1YjA4IVWsXWj1Af-LfcH5-UdL2sEFnLA6CacGFKMiwJp-gwdklYOt9cN_Jd88gEuwZPFIlLvtzQ8o/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="210" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJ09xFW_-FO1cyWmmCPdlazhCunR7yD9zExv2E1bmU0zFSdRXaWXGIfFZhYc-mIyGm8CccNqGwKI6l2iLhOfJNBb1lmPFS3vf_DGbFlV6v1lRNQUfAK2Ec7V_EeSHX4cBMbg2JcMpiWU/s1600-h/image%25255B139%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkxazdUPEbwXXEpCiAroczEP6e3IEw5ycnbkUm8BhI2WGNA9QmRPkgdKdX5pRL_PAi0Eefap4EFlN8ledm62xjaRJq90XuHsAnbRHWNQDQ8MWeEvwAl2dw4Ln3_6qmBoizdnsfb6qg9o/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOCuhcgHn0WxPaX2R088F1GPNT6UvCSXEnqDBJ7VH1z7MWGBt5ZuscuGQ8Hz6Ry1NR29lcLHmvYSNhgFMGsEiAPKzhfniqWRW8RiPazet53LwwWB_46Gk6n6g5_sA1NNzcx_4Nm5FWY4/s1600-h/image%25255B162%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbkzUCIxgMFH1W0d_0NiDHgNxYdzbBAt1iVOjGfwKZBSfmRJWyx2cevZBvDgFeb-t5Twi_rHc6HJA5RVjDYk4Ex09ysMblaV3dfqveqkMk2GR4en4B0BFDg-_P3QAyLVkhBglfPXTr4o/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="226" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHXKA_7bCDexwcBag2b-FRB_o9AAWZrpiEYfgfsA_tRW_9qHk0bXuEtOFlZMQswujPF34dfTCCgaRZKu2ipBzVVlrTECQkF8gYZjFrycFLwIh761omwaatcHua19DTKgzqglUK__XIgbE/s1600-h/image%25255B161%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWuz4seZeXgLfuw2Tip-PwrNt4Khd3_wA3abFO3t_lLpwD6hWNziGf0mnGwBF6-sHTQPCwvppWxYgwm2HLHcRhs44I6fs_ap3BQt9sVtP3WAlPtp7jiSa68Rr4N9u6AImjNXUa_djfdbA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgon1rm9mJRLfbyVryWEu6dPdu21NIdClmESX63FfTrq6AH00a3tmFP-t1Estip0FS3zywyw_F7FQFH8I8zrj97bwGlJHvSuuQs2O1I8veSt8eWSOvwVjbwmCq33QYJK6Ur4LMnxlt_NRM/s1600-h/image%25255B163%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPq2-N0pw-GCByD3FX4nTLOwbASh3sl8qRWU-YixvVt-hchdXzVRvFF2hPilowgZhZ8BllgIA4OPQZ__-u07K0WEW5Dc4faRfYpCfvrkTblnL2dALm24s5RYoz9c7wpUlMeXn84prdUQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="233" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiciQg7uWFnLnq0EF4CGQh-ur2XhMRZ_XAMMAAkw0Qy6q3cTgWvNcdG6gRdFgj5itqRaZTSIenZbw6rY_e_DLnj-Op56FDuaaeXK_T3f9E0T6DyMQR-zijhVU8FeWP0uzzgsgYTgvVocsw/s1600-h/image%25255B154%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqlQvyy5iHkSkWC2UXi-xtaDa1GD845HHpcPwLBJp6eUCH_skuBBAubgOQuzHkW6DHfPLoFA2pLrGuNhGettj13OILsdSm3cmi3lkHuklEilSWsOkql50rVge-0JfUQctuhvMPr0fsKLc/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitf2uhaVFEbYqe-BCBHAM_hMbzD3B_NRTeoTt_LPnuvNSqRwjrKUjdKBG3Rd7jbe16rODe1xGPqXfGT0GI_t_mwXVtTcG2s5ONfprX1mjSuBMJjNW8Vs8A3H1DoJJxKFlWKpVWPPsH8zg/s1600-h/image%25255B170%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9hj-P-2W7aTZl7E1HGCRQ0IBZA9HxoiK0t0wXGV54c8Js5zrKhGQa-zO5jGA2SL0qzo9q8WwDTStlPqtqiyoiKABusXRb5TUrEPTQbzxGqNjHB98mwkUBZ64W39_aMihtuKeNrUZR7U/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjixJP1s_oFOP6tHNmBdkg3QIJUOX6Pyq_1c2tm-0rodQG80TY3f2z0hiwN0OnsQa1dBbUU2niWVIcqnRJQqSaQHmjmL8yazU86Nk1H9YRRGh78eHPOE99fKv1z879TZ3wKTsHQn_iDjeA/s1600-h/image%25255B173%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9f27u-AR8YPbVGXo7zI3yxaxwisXY0UEv7oakwtNVQ-TysM_rHnnWWuTTQaZxbsmcvtILGm1l0igT4zB9EmiVr_x2M4uSPUX2lao1FPRnNPk2qcGYgumb-fh35wiIqJ0x68NTNdaOJI/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><br /></strong></span><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Networking</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course this was a highlight of note! There were so many ‘big names’ at the Conference that it felt great to put names to faces to virtual names. On the Monday night I met up with some of the Microsoft Partners in Learning Institute group for supper, and later I met up with the Google Certified Teachers group….it was marvelous reconnecting with friends from all over the world. I loved attending the <i>Ignite</i> sessions where teachers were given five minutes and 20 slides to talk about something. Imagine how excited I was when one of the teachers from New York spoke about her global collaboration projects and mentioned how Karen de Stadler from Cape Town’s rhino project had captured the hearts of her students and had developed a life of its own right there in New York! Here are some of the friends I reconnected with:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9NB5iXOSpJlZxteM1Ook55Xz4sj8uWc3tI5139yhuO6I9SDICgTspLa6FB6Y073YdG4PxnHUFeSw-3-0mSLXcKWwGoVO5i1UeIq1DAIIigTE-tI4m0cDvvqkhCX4Yb-lIBZT6PB8fmIk/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="221" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wernad and Nina Adams from St Cyprians, Cape Town who now live in Denver</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5scJRF_V_iN7PHAV51qm1ymcgg7okhKv3AYJPf2sR4bPVlTH4DAcbW_UwgVidZuL_2jlJT3o41TVF-XTpUSAi7vCuMqBNnQz2z_msOTsyJnzA5naSKd1P2dyBv1GVGzg_X6oJGMEwLbI/s1600-h/image%25255B115%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2fFGpgMjLgIkVdi7-_XTX8SLNeJnMRVy-6sbBP09DZYJ5i3jgHAjoYvt2TA7y8Sl6TexoLyZzlKIxcUGctXVfw5Eqb0Sc7ZMZDo_aG75KaYZonon-VVAxh8I5VQtsYysvhJYdvH2Ch-Y/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="258" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friends from the Partners in Learning Institute in Seattle in July 2011</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dNiWw260O0Pp5J3BWhPxgd9Jda5F5Z5xu45YIv0dntXkIhW6hpGyTfhm7_EgbP_MWP2E5FCRRTfZFpStONxCbSr6C1W1lBMWS2TKWbmTgZo-7ARDlHP8rOBU1vrWKHqJSla0grSbGP0/s1600-h/image%25255B116%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></td></tr><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"></td> <td valign="top" width="200"></td></tr><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewlB83uMGI4WJXnFOcoKGmeakFUy_SsCnS_1YCHOKkAbu_B-zYoxlPCPwDH5y91rXReWQrd5dPcvZTsN2G0kzuIYBrk0eZUb446ZTVPusb_KQH5OcKGcmZ6NREe7Jrty4JOddDNWJrQY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="236" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Microsoft Innovative Teacher friends from the USA</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqAoi5ME4P0BYPATR537MvnBmAUeYK_Wj_UsCded1k59cHccEtCT9DnrrxTdppB26lS9OH4AsMhtBaVr2f4J1zwNpIcEq90-yr3VzFlsj9m3lb9cj78tI4V7PY3MKEAgraBRwyF_GSoI/s1600-h/image%25255B129%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhennkoE7dDiKOe_aW0mbVmOhq-aS17RhNyb38L1dtZKFOvPiPwHA0u_x83Yxh_z_MP8jwv5QWYb18FnRviKxqNz4nCefBDFd1RGfAPmsTwqH7b0C-xyL3OQxpwo9DIZsGFIh4wWIG0TVg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="182" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Certified Teacher friends from<br />the Google Teacher Academy in New York<br /> in 2012</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh6av8H9qpOijCICH3RVbzCu8YFsPzrepBFn1t_n1YZ9GvgEh-m1inUaIYvHtD4M100IwBdLTR0r7FrrSSqCLZxzU6mXS0wcHQYypp3cXG2BJtPiA74eybjQSqwEbMqMYooTyvVN2DG3Y/s1600-h/image%25255B130%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Boat trip along the River Walk</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was lucky enough to be allocated one of the 40 seats in Powerful Learning Practise’s boat trip along the river walk on the Tuesday evening. It was just SO beautiful - another one of the highlights of the trip. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnTriPiAw-hgE0cr2Wm6LHkVCZdYXMmyZWwKk56MUEbAniL8Rz0p4rCk8Ak-tVCPeejVNyYRY_OPEmR6rInnTLrM_WXWh-bSDM8y0vOqrmPRVKFkU-ZKNF2Zt7Ty_3khiqWwEd0QJMPA/s1600-h/image%25255B133%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggL9Yzbap3PIsKO5fZ8YtaFDFwfuFBC8J1PAXzNniyQzbgrCV3UmnY9TmgV-hNqnJrIFgzwJU3X0tMJ7fvVLAnF_xfSE0BnDWFl_dY4rO7p6pHeI1nEpCmLkI4tCRoeLbSadwhrK33jn4/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td> <td valign="top" width="200"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYulO7pyLuKiFx8jf6DYTWS6uvC605u6d85jNjAXduFKVjjc2EHn-N3SGZfiDJspcQ1__p_L5fxdrbra6gGcfxhV1fmVvE_HeacAaM0-9u-S5sVGzW5lm26-xA6Zc9UNuf7NRMIfyDfU/s1600-h/image%25255B136%25255D.png"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiim3MwSmKo27kROBNa2X7tT-ruoRivUX3vaFneg4CyhBqmS3U6F0g4aLCcGxi-om5BbATAEOBZ04uCj0vGSdMhIA896QfkKdftuCZWUeRUBDupHWnJSNv9gjw2y7rsPQea6_zsFJWFM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What an INCREDIBLE experience ISTE 2013 was. It was definitely worth the 2 days of tiring multi-stop air travel each way that it took to get there and back!  I’ll be writing a number of posts about this experience in the next couple of weeks, especially highlighting the amazing things I learned in some of the sessions.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlE4uUvKfMJw_8MirJNDyewQ2SGG2pHKsi8v_QyuYoMtUR2lCGgz3EugRwXW7neA2iG-URPge8tb0brs5HDgbn4XoVOW_UTWeNlnyK8wDr6RNFRGBXIKLyElV9VHk5fjVUwOHkjw9w03k/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></span></div></div>

ISTE Gleanings from ISTE 2013 #1: What exactly is ISTE?

Submitted by Fiona Beal Recently I had the great privilege of attending my very frst ISTE Technology in Education Conference in San Antonio ...

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Today's Teamster News 07.15.13

<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/09/us-usa-colleges-aid-idUSBRE9480ZO20130509">Low-income U.S. students getting less college aid than better off ones: study</a>  Reuters   ...Low-income students are increasingly bypassed when colleges offer applicants financial aid, as schools compete for wealthier students who can afford rising tuition and fees, according to a public policy institute's analysis of U.S. Department of Education data...<br /><a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10435">Prisoners Stage Hunger Strikes Worldwide</a>  The Real News   ...30,000 California prisoners on hunger-strike find solidarity from Guantanamo Bay to the occupied territories of Palestine...<br /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/10172530/The-wheels-are-coming-off-the-whole-of-southern-Europe.html?ftcamp=crm%2Femail%2F2013711%2Fnbe%2FAlphavilleLondon%2Fproduct">The wheels are coming off the whole of southern Europe</a> (opinion)  The Telegraph   ...Europe’s debt-crisis strategy is near collapse. The long-awaited recovery has failed to take wing...<br /><a href="https://www.freespeech.org/video/brazils-major-unions-join-movement-first-time-strike-150-cities">Brazil's Major Unions Join Movement for First Time, Strike in 150 Cities</a>  Free Speech TV   ...After a month with plenty of demonstrations, when more than a million people reached the streets to protest and obtained important political and social achievements, such as the investment of a full 100 percent of oil revenue in education and health, today was the first day that workers paralyzed the country and joined the demonstrations...<br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jul/12/teachers-unions-strikes-pay-row">Teachers' unions call further strikes in pay row</a>  The Guardian   ...Teachers are to stage a one-day national walkout in the autumn in an ongoing row over pay, pensions and workload...<br /><a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/175244/rescue-local-economies-cities-seize-underwater-mortgages-through-eminent-domain#axzz2YviLbfZu">To Rescue Local Economies, Cities Seize Underwater Mortgages Through Eminent Domain</a>  The Nation   ...In Richmond, California, home prices plummeted 58 percent since their peak. Now the city is trying out a new way to help homeowners refinance—and halt the slide into foreclosure...<br /><a href="http://www.wral.com/-moral-monday-crowd-to-rally-for-women-s-rights-/12661852/">'Moral Monday' crowd to rally for women's rights</a>  WRAL.com   ...The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP says Monday's protest at the state legislative building will focus on the rights and leadership of women...<br /><a href="http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20130713/NEWS04/307130041/New-right-work-laws-might-cloud-state-contract-talks">New right-to-work laws might cloud state contract talks</a>  Lansing State Journal   ...Before negotiators even approach a bargaining table later this summer, state officials and the unions that represent 36,000 state workers are still at odds over one key issue: Do Michigan’s new right-to-work laws apply to civil service employees?...<br /><a href="http://www.nbc4i.com/story/22834567/group-works-to-get-enough-signatures-to-put-right-to-work-on-the-ballot">Group Works To Get Enough Signatures To Put Right To Work On The Ballot</a>  NBC4   ...Supporters of making Ohio a Right to Work state gathered for a discussion Saturday at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Columbus...<br /><a href="http://www.plunderbund.com/2013/07/11/retirees-hit-hard-in-kasichs-budget/">Retirees hit hard in Kasich’s budget</a>  Plunderbund   ...Kasich’s budget shifts the tax burden from the wealthy onto those who are lower income or on fixed incomes – especially retirees...

Today's Teamster News 07.15.13

Low-income U.S. students getting less college aid than better off ones: study  Reuters   ...Low-income students are increasingly bypassed w...

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