
BLC is one of my favorites conferences, so I’m happy that I can check into it now and then virtually from NJ. (With the help of hashmarks on twitter (#BLC09) and RSS feeds, it’s a snap. Some of the best finds so far for this virtual lurker has been this web 2.0 toolkit wiki and the digital backpack netvibes collection by Lindsey B (updates constantly). Amazing stuff !
I attended a few live conferences recently – thought I would list some favorite sessions and “a ha” moments here:
(Please be sure to check out my del.icio.us feed for additional resources that were found)
GOOGLE!
Google Certified Teachers Day – Google New York Offices. Hands down this one wins! The a ha from google GCT day is the amazing community of professionals in the google certified teacher online group who continue to share ideas and support one anothers learning each day. I encourage anyone who doesn’t have a google account to grab one, and try out the apps and tools! They apply for the next Google Teacher Academy!
April 22-25 Washington DC
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Some worthwhile presentations, but I was frustrated with the lack of connectivity in the hall. This was in DC, same spot as NECC, so we know it’s doable. There were some hands on workshops that needed internet, where the presenters just had to present offline. Not fair to people who prepared so well for big conference appearance. Anyhew – a couple of my faves……The Washington International School Parent Math Night Presentation, complete with the hands-on activities used and the children. Truly inspiring kids. Students always draw the biggest crowds and present so openly and honestly about their learning.
Another excellent preso was by Dr. Robin Angotti from The University of Washington, Bothell. She and 3 undergraduate students preparing to be teachers presented ways they were using “Math 2.0″ as student teachers. It was a practical and useful display (and without internet connection they pulled it off beautifully.

(Some Very Random Reflections)
Computational Thinking Resources provide program guidelines for teaching computer science.
Here’s another gaming design preso – specifically for middle schools.
More science here at the NASA Digital Network.
In the Open Source Lab, the audience was given an introduction to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by Vern Ceder, Jeffrey Elkner and two very impressive high school seniors. The group presented Computer Programming for Everybody: Python in the Classroom. I must say, this is a foreign language to me, but I’d love to jump onto the ICT highway and see where programming classes would take our middle and high school crowd. The Scratch Program is a great introduction to ICT for the younger set…. I’ve joined the Scratch Community site; Python language learning is definitely worth exploring. Looking forward to designing some lessons and some student interaction.
Also presented in the Open Source Lab Python Session was The Open Book Project, which is “aimed at the educational community and seeks to encourage and coordinate collaboration among students and teachers for the development of high quality, freely distributable textbooks and educational materials on a wide range of topics”. Awesome.
Picked up a Demo CD in the vendor area which peaked my interest from the Mind Research Institute. I’ve already tested out the software on a tough audience (my 4 year old grandson Jack). The unique visual content paired with multiple step math concepts engaged him thoroughly.
The bloggers’ cafe, as always, was a comforting centralized meeting place where you could always find good conversation and f2f reflection on conference finds.