Working Outside the Space Outside the Space Outside of the Box--

I just returned home from what I'm calling a "drive-by keynote." I flew out of Nashville early yesterday morning with a short connection in Philadelphia, had dinner with my dear buddy Andy Wheelock in Fredonia, NY, slept two doors down from his lovely home in a beautiful bed and breakfast (Edwards Waterhouse Inn), had breakfast with his two wonderful daughters, rode the 45 minutes with him to West Seneca, delivered my 45 minute keynote, attended Andy's GREAT session "60 Google Apps in 60 minutes," served up a technology-challenged but well attended/received session on 3D Virtual Learning Environments, and flew home, taking a break to enjoy dinner at Wolfgang Puck's in the Chicago airport. I sit here pretty durned pleased that the twitrecord will show (search #outtheboxdw15) the keynote was fun and informative and inspiring and not just for me. Andy streamed it over Google Hangouts, so...

Thanks, NYSCATE and all those dedicated teachers bringing good change to Western NY. It starts with you!

And here's a link to the .pdf version of my presentation.
All the videos included in it can be viewed in the "video" folder at the same link.
Finally, here's my brief share during my noon workshop session with Andrew Wheelock the same day: Enjoy, and Try Something new!

NYSCATE Digital Wave in March--KEYNOTE! and omg

I'm pretty buzzed. Thanks to my friend Andy Wheelock, primarily, I'm sharing my first (and maybe only--I don't aspire to be a road warrior) conference keynote address at the NYSCATE Digital Wave conference this March 13. They folks there shared info in a flyer today (see above). You can read it in the copy I saved in my Dropbox.

There's so much going on this spring.

Top of the list is my lovely daughter's wedding to much loved Tim Buell in April. I'm proud and happy and already rehearsing my toast, which I'll likely flub despite the rehearsal.

Before we get there, though, there's the first annual v-TEACH Leadership Institute Feb. 27-28, then the aforementioned keynote in Western New York. I will also be presenting a session about 3DVLEs there. Be there or be non-virtually square.

Colin had his first day today at what one knowledgeable singer-songwriter friend categorized as "the best recording studio in the world" this very day. He'll complete 6 months of daily coursework at Blackbird Academy and emerge expert in studio recording. He's recording 8 songs now with Reel Love recording studio here, on his own with Bad Ladies, and I can't wait to hear the final runs. Lee Ann and I are the Executive Producers, investing toward the sure day when the world embraces his immense talent.

Lee Ann will be opening the Tin Wings storefront in the Nashville The Nations Neighborhood any week now. Prepare to be amazed and blessed by enhanced access to artful food of the highest order. I took in a test kitchen batch of "Butternut Squash Crumble Bars" today and the verdict from colleagues was unanimous: Tin Wings Worthy!

We'll put the house on the market shortly after Miranda's wedding. It's too much house for the two of us and we need a moving adventure. We're tired of walking past rooms we don't use!

There's stuff brewing at MNPS Virtual School I can't even talk about, but I can talk about my excitement at taking over our Middle School World History class as v-teacher. I'm diving into that full force, finally able to do what I've helped others do for years now--teach online. The spring semester consists of ancient history topics like the Roman Empire, Indian and Chinese dynasties, and Eastern and Western Africa. I'm of course working my way through the course content now, in order to be familiar with what the students have been working with. It's very neat stuff! It can be better, I know, and I'll work to make it so.

Julius Scottus

Keep on doing the next right thing. That's what's driving me.

#thisisnotaholidayupdate

NYSACTE Video from Brian C. Smith

Here's a video from Darren Draper, a colleague of Brian C. Smith, who posted it at the NYSACTE ning.com site. The piece compiles a whole lot of current thought about education into an enjoyable, thought provoking set of comments and questions. It's resident on Brian's NYSACTE (New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education) conference ning. See what I mean: