Challenge Accepted!!

Mr. Brett Clark has given me a Blogging Challenge.  I didn't want to get into the whole process because it is becoming very much an altered form of a chain letter.  However, I do not want to let my friend down (I mean, he did let me live in his basement).  Unfortunately, in my last post, I decided to do many of the things in the challenge so I am only left with the 11 questions that were asked of me:

11 Questions From Brett:

1) What is the most rewarding professional experience you've ever had?  I am very fortunate that I have had many of these over the years.  I have yearbooks with comments from students expressing their gratitude and colleagues that I have been friends with for my entire career despite having changed schools several times.  But, I think one that will always stick out in my mind will be the AP Chemistry student I had in my first year who earned a 9 for her marking period grade.  She barely passed her senior year of HS.  After working for a few years at a Barnes and Noble, she realized she was wasting her life.  She went to community college, then transferred to Rutgers.  She is currently finishing her Masters in Biochemistry.  When she started her MA, she messaged me on Facebook to tell me about everything that happened to her since HS.  She said that one of the reasons she chose biochemistry was because of how much my AP Chemistry class had helped her in college.  She is the perfect example of why not everyone is meant to go to college right after high school and how some people just need time to find themselves.  

2) If you were made the emperor of education, what would be the first 3 things you would change?  First, I would do away with the term "Emperor of Education."  It implies that one person's opinion is more important than everyone else's.  Second, standardized tests that involve scantrons and one right answer would be replaced with meaningful tasks to measure understanding and true learning.  Third, I think more schools need to adopt the academy model of education similar to what you find in Magnet and vocational programs.  Programs that are designed to train you with particular skills.  There would still be a "general studies" program, but gone would be 'home ec' and 'foods' to be replaced with culinary arts.  Those wanting to become engineers would take mechanics classes, electrical design, and team building.  Those not wanting to go to college would do apprenticeships and study to pass their licensing exams in whatever area they choose.  Schools need to find ways to tailor the academic offerings to the students instead of a 'one size fits most' mentality.
3) What was the last book you read for fun? for work?  I always reading several books at a time.  Currently, I am listening to (35 min commute) Ape House by Sara Gruen, reading In The Woods by Tana French, and Flipping 2.0 by, well, a bunch of awesome people.
4) Who is your favorite director? (If you say Brett Ratner or Michael Bay, I may unfollow you.) Steven Spielberg.  But, I was just having a discussion on Facebook about what an amazing director Michael Bay.  He may not produce Oscar worth films, but you cannot deny both his an Ratner's gift for turning our childhood fantasies into reality.
5) If you could be on any TV show, what show would you want to be on?  Big Bang Theory.  I would fit in so well there.
6) Paperback, hardback, or eBooks?  As much as I am in favor of digital textbooks, I cannot read for long periods of time on a digital device.  I love the feel of hardcover books; reminds me of my mom who always felt like reading hardcovers was a status symbol (even though hers almost always came from the library).  In the end I always wait until paperback for a good book.
7) Who's your favorite celebrity to follow on twitter?  I only follow 2 celebrities on Twitter:  Steve Martin and Alton Brown.  Alton Brown's tweets are hilarious because he writes his tweets on post-its. sticks it to the computer monitor under the tweet he is responding to, then takes a picture and tweets that.  
8) How close or far away are you right now from where you thought you would be at this point in your life when you were a kid?  I have wanted to be a teacher since I was 8 (got ya beat Clark!).  Mrs. Platt in 2nd grade is who inspired me.  So I am exactly where I wanted to be.  The adult version wants more, though.
9) What's the most embarrassing hair style you've ever had?  When I was in HS, I used to comb my hair across and it produced this wave effect.  When my hair got too long the wave was more tsunami size.  I definitely have pictures around, but I don't want my students who read this blog to see them.
10) I always loved how baseball players have a song they walk up to when they bat. What song would you pick?  Wait and Bleed by Slipknot.
11) What's your favorite browser and how many tabs do you have open? (I'm really looking for affirmation that I'm not the only one with an addiction to tabs.)  I am Mr. Google (currently on a Chromebook) so it is only Chrome for me.  I have 5 tabs open.  I have an unconscious thing about groups of 5.  My wife, on the other hand, is a tab junkie.  She doesn't close anything, not even programs she is no longer using.  Her phone will easily have 30-40 tabs open and her computer will have the same.

Now, if you want to participate, feel free.  You can answer the 11 questions Brett asked of me, the 11 questions that I stole in my previous post, or the 11 that I have below.  If you do decide to do the Blogger's HW, please leave a comment with a link to your post.  Thanks for reading and sharing!

11 Questions for You:

1.  If you were going to get a tattoo, what would it be and where on your body would you put it?

2.  You find a old, tarnished lamp on the beach.  You rub it and a Genie pops out.  What's the 2nd thing you ask for? Don't forget about the 3 rules of wish giving

3.  What is your favorite TED Talk?

4.  Puppies:  cute or ugly? (please include a picture as part of your defense)

5.  Deep Dish or NY Style?

6.  If you could be an educator anywhere in the world (besides where you currently live), where would it be and why?

7.  What is the best blog post you have ever read or written?

8.  What piece of technology do schools need to use or use better?

9.  What one politically correct term should be banned?

10.  How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

11.  What's the coolest thing about science you have ever learned?  (thank you to my wife for suggesting this one)

A Blogger's HW

I have not been reflective enough this school year; at least not here and not in a formal manner.  A random tweet came up about The Homework Meme.  While I am not interested in participating in the actual meme (still not sure what a meme really is and why they are so popular), I thought some of the topics would make for an interesting blog post.  Also, it would give me the kick in the butt I need to write more.

1.  Share 11 Random Facts About Myself

• I have been in 2 movies.  I was at a Mets game with my father and grandmother and they filmed the crowd to use in a scene for Three Men and a Little Lady.  Then a few years ago, I was visiting family in Pittsburgh and while at a Pirates game, they were filming a scene for Abduction with Taylor Lautner.  We were half a section over from the filming and saw him.  If you slow the movie down, you can see an extremely blurry view of us.
• I once drove from NJ to Vegas in 41 hours.
• As of this posting, I am one of only three people in NJ with Google Glass and the only educator in the state.
• Despite my occupation and what everyone thinks about me, I have a serious fear of talking in front of a large group of people.
• My first three part-time jobs all went bankrupt within a year of me quitting.
• One of my many summer job experiences included working in a butcher shop.  Learned a lot that summer!
• You can find my name on Wikipedia.
• I name all of my cars.  It is something I picked up from my childhood best friend.  Penelope, Clarise, JoJo, Portia have been mine while Amy and Sadie have been my wife's.
• I have a hard time creating lists that contain more than 5 things on them.
• I could say chocolate before I could say mommy.
• If I could meet anyone it would be my sons in 30 years to see what they are like when they are my age now.

2.  11 Questions from The Homework Meme

• If you weren't in education, what would you do instead?
• I am fascinated by pyrotechnics and fireworks.  I think it stems from my love of science and chemistry, but it is also because they are so amazing.  It is a controlled explosion that produces wonder and awe.  How could you not love them?
• Pencil or Pen?
• I was raised in school to always use pens.  If it is not neon, I won't pick it up.  But, I lean toward pencils now.
• Last Book You Read
• I am currently in the middle of Ape House by Sara Gruen.  Her previous book is Water for Elephants.  It is pretty good so far, but I am hoping it gets a little better in the middle like Water for Elephants did.
• Guilty Pleasure
• Twizzlers.  I bought a 4.5 lb bag at Hershey Park this summer and ate it myself.  I would have eaten it that day, but my wife wouldn't let me.  I actually ate a 1lb bag while watching a movie and made myself sick.
• Has tech made your life easier or harder?
• Yes, but in many ways I have had to work so much harder because of it.  But, overall, I can't imagine my life without it.
• If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be?
• It is all worth it.
• What is your favorite blog to read?
• There are several that I really enjoy and several that I like to read because I always learn something new and several that I read for both reasons.  I would hate to say there is one that is my favorite so I linked three here.
• Would you ever wear orange pants?
• Hell's no.  But I do have a pair of orange socks with black dots.
• What is the one thing you hope to do in the future?
• I want to win an award.  I was watching the #EduBros Award show and was thinking that I want to be nominated for something next year.  
• Favorite thing to do on a Friday night
• Watch Grimm.  Love that show!!

I tend to write in pieces.  This post took 7 days to put together.  I promise to make a better effort in 2014.

What I learned on my ISTE vacation

Ok, vacation is not quite the right word as I live 90 minutes from Philadelphia, where ISTE 2011, was held and commuted in every day.  But, my wife commented that I was excited about going to a edtech conference as she was about attending the Dave Matthews Caravan 3 day conference the previous weekend.  Let me say simply WOW.  Hands down best conference ever!  I have already posted about Day 1 and Day 2 and while I should make comments about Day 3 I wanted to spend some time talking about all of the other things that I learned about the conference.  The things that everyone failed to mention in their advice columns for newbies.

Tidbit 1:  The conference is actually 5 days long.
When I first read about the conference, I saw that the opening keynote was on Sunday afternoon.  As I didn't want to pay for a full day that didn't involve workshops, I decided to skip and stay home.  Huge mistake!!  Apparently TEDxPhilly was that day and was closed by the opening keynote for ISTE.  That was not on the website.  Also, many educators came in on Friday/Saturday and held sessions that were indicated on the conference website, but were not emphasized.  Most conferences don't begin until after the opening keynote, but not ISTE.  So, if you are attending, spend the extra money and be there every day.

Tidbit 2:  It is impossible to do everything.
I have attended conferences before including NSTA, but this was so much more.  I thought that 45 minutes between sessions would be more than enough time for me to wander the exhibit floor for awhile and still make it to my session with time to spare.  Well, for most sessions the room was almost full a full 15 minutes before the start time.  When I went to the Flipped Classroom session, the doors closed and they started early.  On the 2nd day, I decided to just skip one of my afternoon sessions to give me almost 3 hours to wander the exhibit floor.  Well, after sitting in on a product advisory panel, giving ideas to Corel and collecting pens from just about everyone, I was literally running to my next session.  So, next time I need to put aside a few hours each day for just the exhibit hall.  The hall is absolutely overwhelming and there are so many people who are dying to get you to try out their products.  They all knew we couldn't purchase anything so they just wanted to get us excited about what their products could do.

Tidbit 3:  Don't go to the keynotes.
So the keynote was held in a ballroom that was literally larger than a few airports that I have been to.  I was crammed into my seat to watch Stephen Covey, on TV.  That's right, he wasn't even there.  Ran into someone later who said that he sat in the Blogger's Cafe and watched the whole thing on a TV there and sat in a comfy chair.  So, for Chris Lehman's closing keynote, I went to the Newbie Lounge and it was 1000 times better.

Tidbit 4:  Be an extrovert.
I am not a social butterfly (in fact I went to the Social Butterfly lounge thinking it was the Newbie Lounge and high tailed it out of there) so I had a hard time meeting people.  I was in the Newbie Lounge watching the Twitter feed and no one was talking to me.  I look up and see William King.  I have never met him before, but actually follow him on Twitter simply because I find his comments clever.  Even though he was talking with someone I interrupted and introduced myself.  As we were talking, I saw Paula Naugle playing with an ActiveBoard, yelled out her name and struck up a conversation with her, too.  As I got out of my comfort zone, I knew that I needed to just walk up to people and shake their hands.  I got to meet Steven Anderson, Josh Stumpenhorst, and Nicholas Provenzano, Aaron Sams and Jon Bergmann by interrupting what they were doing and shaking their hands.

Tidbit 5:  Get on Twitter
I met several people who were not on Twitter and showed them the Twitter feed that I had running on Tweetdeck.  I was getting links and comments from sessions all over the conference yet I was not there.  Also, if I wasn't getting what I needed from the session that I was currently in, I was still learning from others as they shared their nuggets of information.  I am sure those not on Twitter learned a lot.  I just feel my experience was more varied because of it.

Now, ISTE 2012 is being held in San Diego so now I just need to figure out how to convince my wife to take a week long vacation in southern Cali.

If you attended ISTE 2011, I would love for you to share things you learned as well.