The Tall and Short of ISTE 2017

The Tall and Short of ISTE 2017

ISTE 2017 proved to be yet another amazing experience.   Just as any conference there are always “Tall” things you take away and “short” things you take away.  The “Tall” things are the big picture ideas that you wrap your mind around bringing back to your school and district. The “short” things are the quick takeaways you can implement right when you return.  Let me share with you the “Tall and Short of ISTE 2017.”

The “Tall” things I takeaway at conferences are the overarching themes, ideas consistently mentioned throughout sessions and keynotes.  This year “sharing your story” was a statement I heard several times.  New ISTE CEO, Richard Culatta  shared this message several times when addressing attendees.  Whether you blog, tweet or use other social media, everyone has a story and it is worth sharing. This is a message we need to send to students as well.  Our stories show our successes, failures and our journey to grow and improve.  What is YOUR story and how are you sharing it?

Another “Tall” takeaway is the connections.  Whether it’s meeting face to face with those who I know on Twitter or making new connections, ISTE is full of like-minded educators striving to connect, learn and grow.  There is just something awesome about the post session conversations that continue well after the conference.  For example, upon arriving at the airport for my return flight, I was greeted by the not so fun “delayed flight” notification.  The disappointment was quickly erased as I made yet another connection, Andrew from Alaska!! Due to a flight delay I was lucky enough to extend my ISTE experience with conversation and reflection with Andrew. We shared ISTE takeaways, school district stories and thoughts and ideas about education in general.  This is just one example of the value of connections and how learning at conferences extends beyond the specified calendar days.

The “Short” takeaways  are tips, tricks and tools that I takeaway and can share and implement with ease as soon as I get home. The first short takeaway is new features in Kahoot.  With the launch of a NEW app, students can now see the questions and answer options on their own device!  This is huge for younger students using Kahoot. Another takeaway involves  Book Creator.  Book creator is now available on the WEB!!  Those using Chromebooks have a reason to celebrate this recent update!!  Still looking for more short takeaways…. Let’s celebrate messaging in Seesaw.  Not only can you share stories and projects with parents and teachers, Seesaw now has the ability to send direct messages or reminders to those parents who are linked to your Seesaw class!  

And last but not least, let me share my “Tall and Short” takeaway.  You may recall last year’s release of updated ISTE student standards.  This year ISTE launched the updated teacher standards.  As we embrace the idea of learning to learn over learning facts, provide more voice and choice in learning and focus on pedagogy and leadership, there was a need for improved educator standards.  As an empowered professional, learning catalyst, thee ISTE standards for educators are designed to inspire a vision for pedagogy-driven digital learning and teaching. You can find more information and downloads of the new educator standards as well as those for students and administrators here.

Whether you take away tall or short things from conferences, always know that we all start our learning journey at a different level.  You may feel short, you may feel tall.  We take away both.  Take time to reflect on the short and the tall, challenge yourself to grow taller, take risks and share the story of your journey. After all, we are better together. Thank you Corey Dahl for the opportunity to take frequent “tall/short” photos and allow me to use this humor as a way to reflect on my ISTE 2017 experience.

Photo credit: Corey Dahl