I Promised..

I promised myself and my friends out there who are not here at #ISTE11 that I would blog, tweet, and keep them in the loop with the events, learning, connecting happening at lightning speed here. This is one attempt, as I have been here since Saturday night and have barely had time to capture a coherent thought, never mind convert it to the written word!

Here are a few highlights so far, and I am sure many more posts will enter my conscious mind when I jump on that plane to come home tomorrow night. ( which, now at the time of this edit, is actually tonight.)

First, I've heard others say, "I've learned more in conversations with my PLN than I have in official conference sessions." For the most part, I must say, that's been true for me as well. Although I have attended a few sessions with "new learning," much of the resources I have already become acquainted with through my amazing PLN. Here's a picture of just one example of collaboration happening in the Blogger's Cafe, which is a big open space where people are connecting and sharing.

Kevin Honeycutt leading a great jam session!

My most favorite part of the conference has been meeting people that I have learned with, collaborated with, shared deep conversations with through Twitter, blogging, online conferences and Skype sessions. Here are a few photos of meeting these wonderful folks!

So thrilled to meet Jana @Mollybmom and Jennifer @Saskateach from Canada. They are wonderful ladies who share so much!

The wonderful Karen McMillan or McTeach, as I know her on Twitter, meeting up for the 2nd time ever! 

The fun and dynamic, Nick Provenzano, or @thenerdyteacher as I know him on Twitter!

The fabulous Paula Naugle, @plnaugle who is a gift to all of us in our PLN.

 The dynamic Angela Maiers, @angelamaiers with George Couros @gcouros and Dean Shareski @shareski

The talented John Spencer, @johntspencer who is such a great guy and fabulous writer!

The very kind and inspiring Ken Shelton, k_shelton, also from California!

So great to meet Cory Plough @mrplough07!

The warm and bubbly Shelly Terrell or @ShellTerrell who inspired me to use Twitter and blog more regularly!

Meeting these friends, and I do consider them real friends, has felt like coming home. After almost 2 years on Twitter, I have come to know people better than I know some of my every day, face to face colleagues.  There are so many wonderful folks I have met, and I know I will forget some in this list so forgive me in advance: Karen Janowski, Kyle Pace, Deven Black, Jerylene Nemanich, Paula White, Becky Fisher, Marybeth Hertz, Gerald Aungst, Ann Leaness, Katie Hellerman, Angela Watson, Amanda Dykes, Beth Still, Michelle Baldwin, Shannon Miller, Mike Ritzius, Ken Royal, Shawn Ram, Tom Whitby, Jeremy MacDonald, Jason Schrage, Susie Toso, Ronnie Burt, Kristina Peters, Colette Cassinelli, Jackie Gerstein, JoAnn Jacobs, Kevin Honeycutt, and the fabulous Elana Leoni and Betty Ray from Edutopia.

I was absolutely thrilled to chat with the fabulous administrators and leaders I have connected with on Twitter: Pam Moran, Lyn Hilt, Patrick Larkin, Dave Meister, George Couros, and others I may be forgetting at the moment!

George Couros @gcouros and Patrick Larkin @bhsprincipal

It is difficult to put into words how I feel today after sharing and learning with all of these people from around the world. Energized, inspired, and grateful are the feelings that pop to mind. How about you?