Laptop Institute 2010 – Putting names to faces
I’ve never been very good at names, and I know I’m not the only one. My mom, a bartender for about 50 years now, said she rarely remembers names, but she always remembers what people drink. At least I know where I get it from – I “know” so many other educators (via Twitter and other online networks), but it takes me a minute to recognize them face to face. Many of them are like rock stars to me – people who do really unique, meaningful things in their jobs and provide tons of guidance to so many fellow educators asking little if anything in return.
The Lausanne Laptop Institute is giving me an opportunity to which I’ve really looked forward – I’m finally putting faces to names and avatars. Last night I was fortunate to be invited to hang out with Vinnie Vrotny, Jeff Whipple, and two teachers from Jeff’s school. This was after they’d introduced me to Shabbi Luthra, Connie White, and Elizabeth Helfant. I started this morning in an iPad in education with Julene Reed. She’s been involved with 1:1 programs since the early days and leads the iSummit from Lighthouse Schools, a 1:1 conference specifically for Apple schools. In her session, I had the pleasure of sitting with three educators from the American School of Bombay, Mumbai, including Shabbi, their tech director. ASB hosts ASB Unplugged and is known for its outstanding tablet program. This evening, hanging out again with Vinnie and Jeff, I met David Warlick (talk about meeting a rock star – he’s the keynote speaker) and Lorrie Jackson. Later, I had dinner with two teachers from Blake, here to prepare for the start of their new laptop program this fall.
The conference didn’t officially start until the dinner tonight, and it already feels like a whirlwind. I hope I can keep up with the inspiring educators I’m meeting. Tomorrow and Tuesday should be interesting days! I know I’ll be learning a ton (as long as I can put off playing with that darn iPad!)
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Tami,
Don’t forget, you’re a “Rock Star” too!
I had the pleasure of meeting Shabbi Luthra at ISTE in the 1:1 SIG session. Very impressive person! Enjoy the conference! Keep tweeting and blogging so the rest of us can follow along!
Thanks,
Mike