Sometime last year we discovered ISTE was to be held in Philadelphia this year. Philadelphia is only two hours from NYC. Accessible! A group of teachers from NYC decided we should go. Some of us submitted proposals to present.
I and a colleague, Yubis Lopez, submitted a proposal to present on empowering neurodiverse students with ed tech. We planned a showcase of tools we use in our classrooms that have been effective and to outline how we scaffold our instruction and also some of the accessibility tools we use.
To our surprise, our proposal was accepted. Neither of us had ever even been to ISTE before and now we were presenting a 60 minute long BYOD session. Our next hurdle was figuring out how to pay for it. As I am part of the Microsoft Innovative Expert Program (MIEE) and some of the tools I was presenting were Microsoft tools, specifically the game-changing Immersive Reader and Minecraft Education Edition, I was able to apply to the travel program and get my registration, hotel and air travel funded by Microsoft. This was very helpful as our school has no budget for conference expenses.
So we went and it was awesome. I do not use that word lightly. I will talk in detail about some of the amazing sessions and events I attended in later posts, but I was not prepared at all for simply how many enthusiastic, positive and innovative educators I met there who are passionate about preparing our students for the world of our future. Just to know that so many are out there was definitely the best part of the experience. It renewed my hope in education.
ISTE 2020 is in Anaheim from June 28th – July 1st. We are already planning how to get ourselves there. If at all possible I absolutely recommend you go.
If you teach a teacher... 