ISTE 2014...Let the Fun Begin!

It's hard to believe that three years ago I was a newbie to ISTE. I had always wanted to attend, and I thought San Diego would be a great place to travel to. Knowing that it would be a hard sell to my husband to just go to San Diego as an attendee, I thought I would jump in a give presenting a try to justify the trip. I was thrilled to be accepted as a presenter, in which I did a BYOD session on Edmodo. What a wonderful experience I had! Thankfully I had fellow Michigan educators that were my security blanket for that first ISTE experience. From a fellow Walled Lake teacher, Mark Lada, who worked at the TechSmith booth to my fellow EdCamp Detroit organizers, Erin Klein and Nick Provenzano, it was nice to have a bit of home amongst a gigantic conference! One of the highlights was being selected by Texas Instruments to ask a question to Mayim Bialik during her session on the TI-Nspire, which led to a fun roof-top reception.

Now three years later, I though I still have my #MichEd security blankets, I also have the security in knowing that no matter where I go at ISTE, I am sure to find awesome educators from around the world. Educators that I have connected with face-to-face over several conferences and events, educators that I chat with each week on Twitter, educators that I have collaborated with on Edmodo, and my newest tech tool, educators that I have connected with on Voxer. Last year my ISTE blog post focused on my ISTE connections feeling like an #EduFamily, and I am so excited to be back at ISTE strengthening our family bonds and impacting the educational world together! Cheers to ISTE 2014...let the fun begin!

(ISTE 2014 with Erin Klein and Todd Nesloney)