ISTE 2012: San Diego

Today is the beginning of the real ISTE 2012 experience for me, even though I have been following the #ISTE12 hashtag on twitter for weeks already, and I've connected with many ISTE attendees already in airports and all around San Diego. This is, by far, the busiest and most beneficial week of the year for me on both a professional and personal level.

Allow me to explain. This morning, I browsed through the conference program (thank goodness for the new iPad app!) and have put 74 different sessions in my planner. I figure I might make six is those sessions, but I will go back and find everything I can about the other sessions online after returning home. This does not include any of the pay or pre-register sessions, as I don't need to pay the extra cash or reserve a spot I may not use when someone else might really want to be in that sesson. I'll find info about them, too.

But, basically, my ISTE plan is as follows:

1. Begin by going through the conference program and highlight all of the sessions I want to attend.
2. Almost totally ignore my conference planner as the conference progresses for all of the following reasons below.
3. Learn something new in the opening keynote that makes me want to further explore that concept.
4. Connect with old friends all throughout the conference, at receptions, at lunches, at dinners, on the conference floor, via twitter, etc.
5. Connect with new friends all throughout the conference, at receptions, at lunches, at dinners, on the conference floor, via twitter, etc.
6. Spend way too much time on the exhibit floor connecting with exhibitors and learning about the new things they are bringing to education and how I can utilize the ideas in my classroom.
7. Have my submitted question answered by Mayim Bialik at her session Monday at 8:30 AM after it was selected by Texas Instruments to be asked.
8. Co-present with Desmos at the Edmodo booth Tuesday at 11 AM on the integration of their online graphing calculator to Edmodo Apps.
9. Participate in a new learning experience that pops up on a whim.
10. (Before and after the conference) Exploree San Diego and all that it has to offer. I have already toured the USS Midway, and I plan on hitting a beach before leaving.

By the end of this week, my non-educator friends will be fed up with my twitter and Facebook feeds being filled with way too much from ISTE, much of which they often state that they have no idea what I'm talking about. On the other hand, my educator friends that could not make it will ask for more. To both groups, I wish I could give you what you want, but you'll have to settle for what I give you.

But here's to another week that goes by way too fast with way too much information. Here's to a week of furthering my craft as a teacher (what's that about summers off?) that will continue the whole way into the school year with preparation and reflection as I try out new things.

And as the week winds down, I'll begin trying to figure out how I can gets to San Antonio for ISTE 2013.