NMSA09 Pre-Trip Post

In just a few hours I’ll be flying out heading to Indianapolis for the National Middle School Association’s 2009 Annual Conference.  This will be my first time attending the national conference and I’m very excited.  I’ve put together my tentative schedule and it’s quite full! I plan to be blogging and Tweeting from my sessions throughout Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning.  Look for numerous updates over the next few days on topics related to teaching and learning with early adolescents.

I will be spending some of my time manning the MiddleTalk listserv booth in the Exhibit Hall.  During my time there I’ll be discussing the benefits of the listserv to my career and how it fits into the mold of a Professional Learning Network.  Hopefully we’ll sign up some new members and get more folks thinking about networked learning.

I will also be presenting in the 21st Century Classroom on Saturday morning.  The topic of my presentation is 8 Tech Tools to Blend into Your Classroom.  Check back here Friday evening or Saturday morning for my presentation files, and links to resources I’ll be sharing during the session.

I will also be hanging out with the other Teacher Leaders for the Middle School Portal on Thursday planning the next steps for the Portal.  Hopefully we’ll have some exciting news about the upcoming plans to share with you!

As for the sessions I’m planning on attending, I’m trying to vary the topics of what I attend, but keep finding myself pulled to some of the ones that are of more interest (imagine that).  Here’s the preliminary rundown:

• 9:00 Thurs: MiddleTalk Booth
• 10:30 Thurs: Successful Science Lessons: UbD and DI
• MSP2 TL Training
• 4:00 Thurs General Session: Daniel Pink
• MSP2 TL Training
• 7:30 Fri: either Adolescent Brain or Voice Thread
• 9:15 Fri: Spencer Kagan: Teaching the Middle School Brain
• 10:45 Fri: MiddleTalk Booth
• 12:30 Fri: NMSA09 TweetUp
• 2:00 Fri: Marzano Student Engagement
• 3:45 Fri: PLNs or Classrooms Without Borders
• 9:00 Sat: Presenting 8 Tech Tools
• 10:00 Sat: Google Tools or Funding Technology through Lease Programs
• 11:30 Sat: Still unsure this time slot
• 1:00 Sat: Closing Keynote with Rick Wormeli

So there you go…look forward to lots of updates throughout the conference on the topics listed above.  I’ll be sharing as much as I possibly can from the sessions I attend, so hopefully you can feel like you’re there.  I’ll also hopefully be posting some pictures from the 21st Century Classroom and around the Convention Center.

Trying to get my blogging fingers working again!