Big Time Blogging Challenge

Good evening everyone! I'm linking up with Big Time Literacy to join her/our district blogging challenge for July. After recently attending ISTE, still trying to process everything, I found myself constantly telling others that I wish I would take them time to be a more regular blogger. Then, I saw this challenge come through on our district email while I was in Atlanta. I knew I would be a day late starting, but had to dive in. Hopefully I can keep up!


   

For my first few posts of the blogging challenge, I really want to use this time to reflect on my first experience at ISTE. I was very lucky to have the opportunity, and boy, was the experience mind boggling. I learned so many things, met such great people, and also took a lot of time to reflect on my own teaching practice and how awesome the teachers in our district are. 

Having previously attended our local ICE conference in Illinois, I thought I was pretty prepared and ontop of things. I read many blogs before heading to ISTE, writing my schedule on paper and narrowing my "must see" sessions down. Well, after day one that schedule was tossed out the window. 

So today's topic....planning for ISTE and the advice I could give a newbe who hopes to attend in Philly next year.  Here are my top 10 tips on prepping!

1. Definitely review the sessions that will be offered at free conferences, jot them down and get an idea of what you want to see. 

2. Even though you have ideas, go into the conference with a clear slate. Accept that your plans may change and that is ok. 

3. Be prepared to meet lots of people! Have your twitter handle ready! I noticed many individuals were passing out business cards, but maybe even print a QR code that other attendees can scan with your contact info to save on paper cards. 

4. Bring clothes that are comfortable! It isn't a dressing conference by any means. As teachers, we stand on our feet all day, but my legs/knees were killing me after the first day. 

5. Have a comfortable tech bag. I didn't know what to expect and lugged my computer and iPad around on the first day in a shoulder bag. My shoulder was red by the end of the day and extremely sore....I didn't open my computer once! So, bring with you to the conference only what you need for that day. 

6. Have snacks! Many days I forgot to eat because I was so excited and trying to see as much as I could. This often left me in many long lines that  would take at least 30 minutes to get a coffee and a muffin from Starbucks.

7. Do download the ISTE App or any conference app that is available. Star your favorite sessions. This makes it easier to hop to sessions you had in mind if you switch or a room is full. 

8. Plan your hotels/transport in a good location. If you aren't close to home, get a hotel in a good central location. Some of the hotels even had shuttles, but otherwise you spend a fortune in cabs if you are on the outskirts. That can make it hard to share a cab with anyone at the evening events. However, I was introduced to Uber for the very first time! I had heard of it, but never tried it.

9.  Be prepared to be overwhelmed. Have a strategy down to collect notes. I found it easy to scan QR codes and then save them into a file each day in my QR reader. Some teachers wrote notes, others typed them on a device. So, have an organizational plan that fits you!

10. Don't pack too much! Only bring what you need and leave room for goodies. You will definitely find yourself shopping the ISTE swag stand, local city merch for souvenirs, or the goodies that get passed out in the exhibitors hallway. My goal was not to check luggage in, and I managed, but it was a tight fit. ha ha