TpT Orlando

I think I'm finally recovered after an amazing time in Orlando last week! Oh my goodness  y'all it was seriously one of the best weeks ever for me!

My time in Orlando actually started the Sunday before the conference. My friend from school Darla and I, decided to turn the week into our working vacation. After arriving Sunday morning we spent the day at Magic Kingdom.

Aren't we fabulous! Those Minnie ears are on point!

There's always something magical about seeing Cinderella's Castle!

For dinner we met up with my friend Tamara Russell at Ohana. If you've never eaten at Ohana it's a must do restaurant while at Disney. Everything they served us was family style and DELICIOUS! It's a good thing we did so much walking, because I definitely did tons of eating.

Tamara came to dinner all pretty and glamed up! We certainly had lots of laughs at dinner.

We continued to visit the parks in the days before and after the conference. Every day was a blast! Of course I had to meet more Disney princesses this trip.

Tiana loved my tank top and shirt I had wore just to meet her! If you're ever looking for custom Disney shirts and ears, check out Etsy!

I got a part in Enchanted Tales with Belle! I got to play the role of Phillipe, the horse. Don't think Hollywood will come knocking on my door anytime soon, ha!

If you've never seen the Festival of Fantasy parade at Magic Kingdom it's a must do. The floats are unlike anything I've seen in any parade. This dragon from Sleeping Beauty actually breathes fire as it goes by.

Tuesday evening we headed to the Garden Grove to attend the Cool Kids Meet and Greet. This was my second year to attend, and it will definitely be a conference must do for me. 

We even got a visit from Goofy and Pluto during dinner! It was great to catch up and chat with old and new TpT friends!

At last the days of the conference arrived! You could feel the excitement in the air Wednesday morning. Jen Bengel gave an excellent keynote speech. One of the things I love most about TpT is lines of communication are constantly open. We are always kept in the loop of what's to come. God bless Adam Freed, that man knows his data well and can break it down so easily to understand. When Day one of the conference wrapped up it was finally time for the BIG teacher meet up. Check out Tallahassee Sunday on Etsy for custom door signs. The had this sign available to take pictures with; too bad it couldn't be taken home!

The second morning of the conference we were served a poolside breakfast! It felt so fancy to me!

The sessions were amazing! I was pleasantly surprised to see I made a cameo appearance in one session.

Call me a dork, but this made my day! Sherri Tyler from Literary Sherri and Mary Beth Nerone from Brain Waves Instruction had a wonderful session on organizing meet ups. Seriously, these ladies know their stuff. 

Another reason to love TpT is how down to earth Team TpT'ers are! Adam, Paul, Amy, and others were walking around attending sessions and chatting with people. Every Team TpT'er I met was approachable and easy to chat with. 

It was fun to have more time at happy hour with everyone, but that also meant one thing. It meant the conference fun was coming to an end. 

Before saying our final goodbyes, we had one last dinner. Last year Michelle and I chatted poolside in Vegas, this year she joined us for dinner Thursday night at The Boathouse. The food was delicious! Check out Michelle's blog Teaching Ideas For Those Who Love Teaching. 

I came home tired, but with a happy heart. Happy because of the new tips and tricks I learned. Happy because I reconnected with people I've been waiting a year to see again. My biggest takeaway from the conference was meaningful connections. If you've never attended a TpT conference you must go next year if possible. I promise it will be worth every penny, and you won't regret a moment of it. Go by yourself if you need to and you'll quickly find people to connect with!

I look at the quote in this picture and agree with it 100%. TpT helps me keep my passion for teaching when it gets tough. I'm reminded that I became a teacher because I'm passionate about helping children reach their potential. I have so much love and respect for TpT. Now comes the LONG wait until next year!

Ignite 14-Wednesday

Happy Thursday everyone! I had every intention of blogging about the last day of Ignite when I came home yesterday, but the urge for a nap won that battle. I'd set the timer on my iPad for 45 minutes. I woke up TWO hours later, eeek!
I've got to take a few seconds to brag on my teacher friend Darla who attended the conference with me. Darla is an amazing Kinder teacher who blew me away with what she learned! I gave her a challenge of tweeting 3 times Wednesday, and she went above and beyond. Not only did she tweet, but I wake up to a text learning she created a blog! Way to go friend!
Ignite is a technology based conference, but the main idea of Wednesday was to build relationships. Technology will always be there, make that a second priority.

My favorite quote from the day, "Everyone deserves the opportunity to be a part of something great."

Remember what I said Tuesday about starting small? That's all it takes folks. Make it your goal next school year to try 1 or 2 new things.

Since this week has been all about the techie love I did discover one new app called Number Pieces Basic. It's simple and no fuss yet effective. Place value, addition, subtraction, skip counting, etc. So many ideas and uses for this app! The fact that it's free makes it even better. 

Ignite 14

Happy Tuesday, y'all! I have the privilege of attending the Texas ASCD's Ignite conference again this year! There were so many amazing things that happened and I learned today. I'll quickly share some highlights and thoughts from today.
1. Technology doesn't take the place of the teacher- Technology is meant to enhance teaching. No computer or device will ever beat face to face interaction. I know sometimes all the techie resources available can be overwhelming. Start small. Try 1 or 2 new techie resources in your classroom and build from there.
2.  The best quote I heard today came from this morning's discussion panel. "Positivity is a powerful character trait." Nobody likes to hang around with a Debbie Downer.

3. Hooray, I won a prize in one of the sessions today! 

4. I'd never heard of Kagan products until today. My first session of the day was AMAZING! Any session that gets teachers up and active gets a thumbs up from me. Movement in the classroom is just as important as curriculum.I wish there was a link I could share with you that included the handout we received. Visit Kagan Online to learn more. Carve out some time to explore everything the website has to offer, I promise it'll be time well spent. 

5. Lunch at The Cheesecake Factory-Need I say more?

6. If you aren't already on Twitter make an account and get connected. I got to see my teacher friend's eyes light up while creating an account today! Create a teacher account and stay active. 

Following a hashtag from a Twitter chat is a great way to make connections and learn something new. The Mac Daddy of list of all Twitter chat's can be found here.

EdCamp Dallas

I had an amazing time this past Saturday at EdCamp Dallas! There were so many amazing ideas to take home and new teacher friends to make. I always leave an EdCamp feeling refreshed and excited for all the new possibilities. If your unfamiliar with EdCamp it's teacher led professional development. Anyone can sign up to share an idea and lead a discussion. If your sitting in a session and discover it doesn't meet your needs, you're free to move on to another session. Teacher friends, I strongly encourage you to join and be an active part of Twitter if you aren't already. There's such an amazing network of supportive, passionate teachers for you to connect with.
The first session I attended was led by the fabulous Martha Lackey. (@lackeymartha on Twitter) Martha took a brave step this year with learning spaces in her classroom; no student desks and chairs! She has a fabulous blog where you can follow her experience.
My coworker/techie partner in crime Kate May (@ktmom3) and I led a session geared for K,1, and 2 classrooms.

Say cheese! I was trying not to giggle while this picture was taken.

Primary teachers are eager to use these fabulous technology tools we hear about, but sometimes we only see examples of them being used in upper grade levels. Don't be afraid to try something new with your class! Our minis can surprise us with how capable they can be. You can view our presentation below and grab a copy to keep for yourself.

If you haven't used Doodle before for scheduling conferences it is a must. Doodle takes the headache out of double appointments booked by mistake and figuring out where to put people.
We were excited to share our ideas with other primary teachers; they're enthusiasm during our session was contagious, and they kept us laughing!
At the end of EdCamp was one of my favorite parts called the smackdown. The smackdown is where people who attended shared a favorite resource with everyone. There's a wiki with all the smackdown information that was shared.
My mind is overflowing with ideas and information I can't wait to take back to my classroom. Remember technology in the classroom isn't a one fix for everything, it's just another tool to use to best serve your students.  Happy Monday and sweet dreams from one tired teacher, zzzzzz.

Ignite Day 3..and freebies!

My mind is still spinning with all the fabulous new things I've learned about this week! While I've enjoy the yummy food, great networking, and amazing ideas I admit it'll be nice to not wake up at "teacher time" tomorrow morning. I'll go back to school in August refreshed and ready to try new things. My favorite session of the day was before lunch. When teachers first arrived to their seats, this adorable postcard was waiting for us.

How adorable is this? Wouldn't something like this be fabulous for open house or parent teacher conferences? Love it!

The presentation included tons of great ideas to connect with classrooms globally. Take your time to click on each tab. Make sure you scroll completely down each page so you don't miss the freebies. Enjoy!

Ignite Day 2

Silly me, I didn't realize my previous post about Ignite Day 1 was all kinds of crazy with the video I posted. That's what I get for writing a post on very little sleep and no caffeine! I fixed the problem and got plenty of sleep for the second day of fun and learning. Sadly, I forgot to take pics of today. *face palm* I will get plenty of sleep AND take pictures tomorrow! On to the events of the day...
The morning started with more yummy breakfast provided and a panel discussion on BYOD. For those of you unfamiliar with BYOD it stands for Bring Your Own Device. While sitting in this panel I was chatting about possibilities with my principal and coworker. I can't wait until the school year starts so we can start implementing some of the amazing ideas we heard discussed. I found a Pinterest board with some great resources to get started.
Walk the Talk was the morning session I attended. I love the included link to the site with the presentation.

During the day I went back and forth on Twitter between the hashtags #ignite13 and #iplza13 for iPadpalooza. I wish I could have been in both places at once today. I loved seeing all the fabulous, fired up tweets today! The rest of the day was filled with more yummy food and fun with Educreations and iMotion. I  felt like a kid in a candy store with iMotion. If you haven't tried it you'll love it!

I think this video sums up today nicely, and helps remind me of why I teach.

Ignite 13 Day 1

This week I'm fortunate enough to attend the Ignite 13 conference in Frisco, Tx. Today was day 1 and my mind is still trying to soak up all the wonderful information I learned! The morning kicked off with the keynote speaker, Lee Crockett. This was my first time to hear him speak at a conference. I can honestly say he is one of the best I've heard at any conference/workshop hands down. He was engaging, humorous, and gave attendees time to chat and share with each other.

If your on Twitter I highly recommend following him. The man was seriously on fire! The 90 minutes of his presentation held my attention from start to finish.

The morning session I attended included working with some fabulous apps I'd never heard of before. My favorites were Nearpod and Educreations. Nearpod is a free app for iPad. Teachers can create presentations accessible with a pin. You can monitor students paying attention, create polls, and set up options for students to collaborate. I loved working with this app! At one point in the session, teachers did a quick demonstation.

Obviously my iPad writing skills need some work.

Educreations is another free app for iPad. With this app you can turn your iPad into an interactive whiteboard. Sadly I couldn't capture any pictures of the examples we did, but you can browse shared videos either through the app or website. I love this example:

The afternoon session I attended was equally awesome. I could blog about it, or I could just give you the awesome link. You'll need iTunes to view this if you don't already have an account.