Today, for a couple hours, I felt like I was transported into the future of EdTech PD (Education Technology Professional Development) while participating in EdCamp Online! Thank you Kristen Swanson and your marvelous team for pulling off a very cool event. I was thrilled to join the session facilitated by Linda Yollis, master classroom blogger, who I knew through Twitter and her inspiring blog. 

Learning online has its ups and downs. I was super happy today because it went nearly perfect for me. I had a brief flashback to EdCamp Home (online PD that used Google Hangouts and I couldn't start a session) however, closing and reopening the browser windows was the quick fix for smooth sailing during the rest of the session. Technology is getting better and computers are faster and more capable making today's learning adventure a possibility. Google Hangouts is an incredible tool that I know I need to leverage more to share out lessons learned and to help lead staff and students to better infuse tech into the classroom for richer, better experiences. Brent Catlett shared a TweetBinder and I included some snapshots below. It blows my mind the far reaching impact of these brilliant educators. 

The pictures below show the flow of EdCamp Online. We started in the "lobby" and people started saying "hi" using the chat window while Kristen, David and Drew and others described the process. In the Google+ community people started to suggest topics for exploring. Once a topic was "+1" enough times, the session was created. It was pretty cool to watch the sessions being lined up. Almost like going into an ice cream parlor and seeing the menu with all the treats. Lots to choose from. After the moderators entered the room, 9 more lucky people could join that session. You could leave once you were in a session for another one as space permitted. I stayed in the blogging session and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you to Linda, Rafranz, David, Tamika, Joanne, Katy, Brent, Vivian, and Justin.

Tips I learned for blogging:
- don't sweat the small stuff
- enlist parents as virtual volunteers (read/review/comment on posts)
- create student groups to support each other's blogging
- blogging offers writing without constraints
- camaraderie and grit
- be the "noisy group", it's fun and inspiring!

P.S. David, I also worried there was going to be a "barnyard blitz at 10." But it turned out to be a really, really great experience for me and I hope for many of the other 200 participants.

Last week I attended the San Gabriel Valley CUE (Computer Using Educators) Conference and had a blast! Today, I'm playing catch up, trying to capture a few of my thoughts in this post. The best things about the conference were:
1. Face-to-face connections (makes me smile, ear-to-ear)
2. Learning from educators that I respect and wanted to learn from
3. Inspirational ideas for the next time I organize an event (like the intro "shred" session. It doesn't have to a live session but might be a pre-recorded 30 - 60 second infomercial so teachers could make more informed decisions about whether they might be interested in a session or not.)

Many people know that CUE conferences are... Spectacular! Energizing! Exceptional learning opportunities where amazing connections with educational leaders both established, as well as up and coming, are made and reinforced. Have you heard about SGVCUE? A few friends of mine are heading up to the San Gabriel Valley CUE Tech Fair, maybe for some Dim Sum, but mainly for this mini CUE conference next weekend. This is a small scale CUE conference and a very affordable event that I can almost guarantee you'll have a terrific time. 

I'm a big fan of PD in my PJs, but it is good to get out every now and then. When you can see, and even feel the atmosphere and high energy of the presenters and everyone participating in the event, it is contagious. Learning is a blast. I call that an #EduWin. Here's the fabulous lineup. Hope to see you there!

Not educationally applicable, yet...or is it? Leap Motion. Have you tried it? I heard the new HP computers have Leap Motion embedded. Mind blowing. 

I just opened my Leap Motion and connected it to my Macbook Air. I'm bursting with excitement to explore this technology and intriguing apps. This is exceptionally entertaining. I'm going to try to use it in my Google Teacher Academy Application for London and Sweden. I've visited both places and enjoyed them very much. It would be awesome to visit again and extremely memorable if it were a Google trip rather than selling a communication satellite. Back on Leap Motion...Here are a few pictures and screenshots to commemorate my first experience with Leap Motion. Notice I've already downloaded the free apps for the Mac. There are quite a few more if you have a windows machine. Cheers!

I earned two badges this week. That would be a record for me. Woot woot! The first was for participating in an outstanding free professional development opportunity that was inspiring and motivating. The webinar is recorded if you're interested. It was sponsored by EdTech Teacher webinars, "Connecting & Collaborating in Elementary Classrooms." They have more coming up this month on Tuesday's that I'm sure will be just as fantastic. Thank you Samantha Morra, Holly Clark and Beth Holland. 

I say that I "participated" in the webinar but I could have earned the badge for just sitting there like a lump on a log. I chose to dive in. It's hard for me to jump in but it is getting easier. Sometimes if I chime into a backchannel, I feel like everyone already knows it or someone else is about to share it so I should wait. Working on participation. Even back in grammar school I disliked participation grades. I just wanted the real earned grade. Connecting and collaborating is a skill I am working on. So far so good I think.

By the way, ChatWing was used in this webinar. I don't care for it too much because I could never stretch the window. I'm sure it's operator error. I felt like a couple times I was missing out on an interesting comment/resource/idea.

The second badge I earned this week is priceless. A student awarded it to me for teaching. #youmatter!

This is Connected Educator Month! So, are you a connected educator? Take the quiz and find out. After the quiz, if you're interested in learning more about Twitter, check out this super presentation by 

After taking the connected educator quiz, if you want to learn more about Twitter, check out Laura Kroll, @Mandery, Twitter presentation from #nefetc. She does a tremendous job sharing everything you need to know and then some, in a beautifully put together presentation. I'm a big fan of Google+ and that's another phenomenal space to get connected.

P.S. The post title commemorates the 75th Anniversary of my favorite book, 'Wizard of Oz.' I think it works for this particular post because I hope everyone; parents, teachers, and students get a little more connected online and offline this month, and choose to play the role of the good witch.