A reflection on #bit15

Amidst putting the final touches on my progress reports and beginning my major paper for my course due Monday, I was able to get as much as I wanted out of the one day I attended #bit15 this year.

Once again, I was blessed to have been able to share what I'm doing in my classroom. Here's a link to my presentation. I've reflected several times over the past year or so whether or if I'm ready to leave the classroom, and the answer is a resounding "no." The work I share at conferences would not be possible if I wasn't a classroom teacher. It would not be possible without the support of admin, parents and without the hard work of my students.

I'm not usually able to talk to my colleagues at my school about what I learn at conferences, they are just not there yet (slowly but surely they are getting there though!) I tend to turn to twitter to digest and think about what I can take back to my classroom and school. Doug Peterson's blog post today got me reflecting on Friday's learning and urged this blog post.

I think that the biggest piece I took away from Heidi Siwak's closing keynote, yes I was one of those people taking all those pictures, is that teachers in Ontario need classroom teachers like Heidi to share the message: innovation is happening in classrooms right here in Ontario! Education is changing one classroom at a time! Teachers like us, have the power to do that. If you want it to work, it will work! Like Mark Carbone's final words to us: what is your next?

My next is helping a colleague set up her OneNote classroom, helping my students access their first assignment and of course to keep preaching the message, that it's not about the technological tools but rather about transforming learning.