FETC 2014

This journey started a year ago.  I was an intern at a somewhat local elementary school, in a 1st grade classroom.  My supervising teacher was, and is, amazing with technology usage in the classroom.  I feel very blessed to have been placed with her; I learned wonderful things about blending technology in school.  We were invited to attend the Florida Educational Technology Conference in Orlando last year as a guest of a vendor.  I had NO idea what to expect, but went along happily.  A trade show is a favorite thing of mine.  And we got some pretty sweet freebies :)

This year I am wiser, and more aware of what is available to me as a teacher.  I include technology into most of my lessons, and my students love being able to use new gadgets during math and reading.  Unsure of how to pull it off, I went to my principal with the question "Would I be able to get the day off for this conference?"  She was hesitant, but said she could not deny me the day off but she asked me to email some information regarding the conference to "sell" her on the idea.  Later that afternoon, my AP called me to say that I needed to fill out some forms for district to approve my learning credits.  I wasn't even looking for learning credits!  Bonus!!  Within a day, the entire trip was approved, including myself, another teacher, and my AP.  We would be allowed to attend one day of the conference, with breakout sessions/speakers, and get paid for it! I was thrilled to just be going, let along not losing a day of pay for missing school.

Today was the day.  We piled into the car and headed out to the Orange County Convention Center.  The expo floor was full of ed tech vendors looking to sell their product and make connections.  It really was a whirlwind experience.  The real fun began during the breakout sessions.  We sat in on four speakers, and only found one to be not as described in the title.  The session presenters were knowledgeable, excited about technology, and passionate about education.

I learned so much about the way that I can implement blended learning with my students and how I can use it to drive instruction, data collection, and assessment in the future.  I love a good gadget.  I don't think that I have downloaded so many apps to my iPad in one sitting as I did today!  Google Docs, Google Drive, TikiToki, Flipboard, Aurasma, ThingLink, and more...I can't even keep things straight anymore!  I need a day off from my day off!  I had a wonderful time learning with my peers and I hope to do it more often in the future!