Hooray! I am so excited to be presenting at the Fall CUE conference this weekend.
This year, the conference is in Sacramento, a new location, and I am excited to visit, since I’ve only been there very briefly before. I am looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues, meeting new people, having great hallway conversations, and attending sessions where I hope to come away inspired and full of new knowledge and ideas.
If you are attending Fall CUE, please join me at any of my sessions. You will find all the resources Presentations page of my website. I’m still tweaking, so they aren’t there yet, but they will be before the end of the conference. I’ve listed my sessions below, but if you see me in the hallway, feel free to stop me and say hello. (See the paragraph above to see how I feel about hallway conversations.) All my sessions are on Sunday, so I hope I’ll get a chance to meet and talk to lots of you on Saturday!
Well, another CUE conference is in the books, and like those before it, this one passed in a whirlwind. I learned a lot (mostly from the hallway sessions, if I’m honest), met so many people, walked over 15 miles, and got to share my passion for teaching and learning. What could be better? If you are one of the people I met, I hope you will stay in touch. We are always #BetterTogether!
To hear more about my thoughts on this year’s conference, take a few minutes to listen to Episode 73 of the TLC Ninja podcast, where Lisa and I share our thoughts on CUE 19.
Thanks to Ryan O’Donnell for creating the CUE By the Numbers template.
I am proud and honored to be presenting at the National CUE Conference in Palm Springs this week.
Spring CUE is one of my favorite conferences. Not only do I get to be inspired by new learning and tools, but I also enjoy seeing friends and colleagues, making new connections, and spending time in an environment very focused on students.
If you will be heading over to CUE, please join me at any of my sessions. All of the resources will be linked on the Presentations page of my website before the end of the conference. Here’s where I’ll be and when. I hope to see and chat with you!
Whether or not you are able to be at #CUE19 and attend my sessions, please feel free to reach out here or on Twitter if you have questions about any of the resources.
You may know that the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the right to establish copyright laws, but did you know that this was done not to hinder, but rather to encourage creativity? The founders of our country believed that protecting the rights of creators would encourage them to create more.
Fast forward to today, when many teachers are being asked to ensure that students are not violating copyright laws, yet those same teachers aren’t certain of what those laws are. If that is you, you may want to consider taking the free copyright course offered by copyrightandcreativity.org. It’s straightforward, easy to understand, and quickly teaches you what you need to know. Plus you’ll earn a shiny new badge you can display on your website, in your email signature, or anywhere you want people to know that now you know what you need to know to teach your students what they need to know, allowing them to go forth and create with confidence.
What an amazing week last week was. I visited Chicago and was able to spend time with my fellow Google Innovators at the Google Energizer, then it was on to 4 fabulous days of learning and networking at ISTE.
Google Energizer
In response to feedback from Certified Innovators, Google organized several Energizer events where we could get together to learn, connect, and get re-energized. One of these events was in Chicago, the day before ISTE, and it was a wonderful day. Over 100 of us came to spend the day at the Google Chicago offices, where we shared, worked together, and talked about how to change the world. I was also lucky enough to meet two previous TLC Ninja podcast guests in real life: Sarah Stuhr and Lisa Berghoff. I came away completely re-energized. Thank you to Google and to all my fellow Innovators for making this such a fabulous event! I can’t wait until the next one!
Top to bottom, left to right: Google Chicago sign, Swiss Army Knife team, view from rooftop, group photo, mini #TOR16 reunion, Sarah, Nancy, & Lisa
ISTE
It would be impossible to share everything that happened at ISTE. I’m still processing and reflecting on the four days of the conference. In no particular order, here are a few highlights:
Winning a ticket to see Hamilton (thank you, Newsela!)
Getting to introduce my podcast partner Lisa to Eric Curts
Making new connections and renewing old ones – my favorite part of any conference
Becoming better acquainted with the beautiful – and delicious – city of Chicago
Friends old and new: Brandi Miller, Lisa Nowakowski, Joe Marquez, Lisa N (again), Meredith Jones, Wanda Terral, Kim Voge, Chris Tenbarge, Trevor Knowlton, Lisa N (yet again), Eric Curts, CoffeeCUE meet-up
Sarah Thomas, Susan Stewart, Chris Tenbarge, Kat Goyette, Adam Juarez, Jody Green, Tara Linney, Sandra Chow, all #ninjateachers. Visit tlc.ninja to see their episodes.
So many beautiful places to see.
Blogging Buddies
In an effort to post more frequently, I have joined the ISTE Ed Tech Coaches Blogging Buddies network. This group is designed so that coaches and others who help teachers integrate technology can connect and learn from each other through our blogs. Members commit to posting at least once a month, in addition to reading and commenting on each other’s blogs and sharing the blogs with our PLN. To learn more about blogging buddies, or to sign up, visit this site.
I have been working on sketchnoting lately and recently shared this image on Twitter. I am very proud of it (and those of you who know my drawing skills will understand why) and it proved very popular, so I thought I would reshare it here, on the eve of the National CUE Conference, one of the biggest conferences of my year. Enjoy!
I have decided that, rather than follow my usual modis operandi [i.e. make myself crazy] and attempt to complete all the #youredustory prompts that I have missed, I am going to try something new. I am going to follow Elsa’s advice and Let It Go. I am getting back into the challenge starting with week 18, even though this is week 19, because it is an integral part of who I am as an educator. The prompt: What is your favorite education conference you’ve attended? Why should others attend?
I have been to many conferences (and unconferences) over the past few years. Some were larger, some were smaller, and all but one (which shall remain nameless) yielded valuable new knowledge, ideas, and connections, yet I have to say that the annual CUE conference in Palm Springs is my favorite. It has a special place in my heart because it was at the 2013 conference that my journey as a connected educator began. It opened my eyes to what was possible in the world of education. You can read more about that in this post.
Why should others attend the Annual CUE Conference? Because it is a wild and crazy ride, but if you are open to new experiences and willing to put yourself out there, you will learn a lot and have a great time doing it.
Before they fade completely from memory, here are some thoughts on the 2015 event.
What makes this event special is the people. Many of the best conversations this year took place in the hallway, where Lisa Nowakowski (someone I met at CUE 13) and I were finalizing our presentation on Google Sites.
Speakers who are passionate about their topics are the most engaging, whether they are in a big room or a small one. Besides the digital storytelling session hosted by the Bedley Brothers and Brent Coley mentioned above, I especially enjoyed hearing Mari Venturino and Alicia Johal, Victoria Olson and Sara Boucher, David Theriault and Sean Ziebarth, Jon Corippo, and Jennie Magiera, not just because I wanted to hear what they had to say or because I learned a lot, although I did, but because I loved the way they presented it.
In keeping with the philosophy of sharing something small every day, I have been trying to post more frequently on this website, and I realized that the way it was set up no longer satisfied my needs. I created CoffeeNancy.com to allow people to get to know me and to share what resources I could with those who would have them. In reflecting on the way the site was set up, I decided that it was not bad, but it could be much better.
Enter this new redesign. I have put the blog front and center so that you can get to know me more from what I post than simply from reading my bio. The links on the sidebar should make it easier to find things you are looking for. I have also added a Subscribe button in case you want to be notified of new posts via email. The one thing I wasn’t sure about was whether people prefer to see more posts on a page with a “read more” link or if they would rather see full-length posts. Please let me know what you think.
I’d also love to hear your thoughts on this new design. Please share in the comments or tweet at me.
The school year is almost over, and I am planning my summer reading list. I love reading, and I don’t do enough of it during the school year. Here is what I have so far.
The rest of Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All by David Kelley and Tom Kelley
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (My daughter told me I had to read this since I love YA stories) and some other “just for fun” books
Today, I attended the excellent 80s themed HB Tech Fest, put on by the Huntington Beach Union High School District. The keynote by Amy Burvall was thought-provoking; I also attended an excellent session by Moss Pike on design thinking (I thought I knew what it was, but I was wrong; I am definitely going to be learning more about it in the near future) and an equally excellent session on PopcornMaker, where Dan Bennett introduced me to a web web tool that allows the user to annotate videos by adding text, other videos, links, interactive maps and other content. I had never heard of it, but now that I know it exists, I plan to make extensive use of it.
However, the session that made the most immediate impact on me was the one led by David Theriault. All of the morning sessions addressed different chapters of Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon; David’s was on Chapter 3, Share Something Small Every Day. As I read the chapter, I took down some notes. I realized that I have had this blog for over a year, but haven’t really posted as much as I should have. Read More
