July 14, 2014- GAFE PEAK SUMMIT Summer Institute

This is my first blog in all the time I have been writing, which is a long time.  That sounds a little strange, but you need to know that I love to write, and I write in a journal, longhand, every morning.  However, this is a new experience for me.  I did not grow up in the social media age.  I did not grow up with everyone reading my facebook page, and watching my life flow across the internet.  Therefore, writing this post is something I will need to get accustomed to over time.  I might sound, at first, slightly awkward, or perhaps a little stilted, like the first time you find yourself with a group of people you don't know.  I might not know what to say, even though I have been saying a great deal for years.  Therefore, I apologize if my first blog is like one's first pancake, a little scorched on one side, a little over done on the other side, the heat not quite just right.  I hope to get more attuned and begin enjoying this experience as time goes on.

I have a specific subject to tackle, even though it may have sounded at first like I was just thinking out loud.  I took a very intense two day GAFE peak session after school let out this year, and part of my assignment for the summer is to practice all that I have learned about at this educational conference.  I hope my students will read my blog, and respond to it, and write about their educational experiences as well.  I love Google apps and google everything, for many reasons.  I want to reflect, first, on this, and then, on my last several hours of work that I have been doing, to combine the two sessions that I took, gafe peak, and Reading and Writing for k-5.

I love google apps for education because everything is right at your fingertips and it is all connected.  I never thought having a youtube channel, having a blog, having a webpage, and managing my email would be this easy and simple.  I have not come to technology quickly, but I have been a steady student all the way along.  I just assumed that it would always be a challenge.  Now, I am always looking for more of a challenge to keep me learning!  I love that!  This is what learning is supposed to be all about.  It is supposed to be fun, and it is supposed to be about thinking, and responding, and playing, workshopping, and collaborating.  That is what google apps is for me.  So many different ways to share your work, so many different ways to communicate with others, and work with others, and all using the same format?? All I can say is wow, and thank you, thank you, and thank you again.

  I think all the teachers that we had at the conference were wonderful, because they got you going on even the simplest things, and didn't ever make you feel as if you should have been further along, you are supposed to be where you are, and you can take it anywhere next, and then next and then next..do you know what I mean?  They were great examples of excellent teachers.  I not only learned about how to use these apps in my classroom, and how to use them to support my teaching, but I studied how to be a better teacher as well:   patient, enthusiastic, fun, and engaging all the time!!

  I would also like to add that the way the conference was organized was fantastic.  There were many choices of what to take, and they organized it so that if you had never done something before, you could learn with the beginners, if you were more experienced, you could learn with more experienced people and so forth.  I think we all come to new challenges and new information and new languages with different skill sets, and it is so important for everyone to see the different learning styles and work with them.  We were lucky to have several spots for these different classes, two or three different labs, as well as the wildcat room for larger groups and presentations.  I was thrilled to be a part of it, and let me tell you, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend part of my summer doing this..but now I want to take a class every summer, and have independent time to write, and blog, and work on youtube videos.

Which gets me to my next challenge.  The other two day conference I went to was about reading and writing for students no matter what you teach on a regular basis.  Almost all the teachers in the class were classroom teachers, so I brought a unique perspective, being a music teacher.  I am going to end this first blog, here, as I believe the Reading and Writing project that I have been working on should be a separate reflection.  Let me just say, I want to thank the GAFE peak organizers, especially Eric Lawson and Barbara Maling, as they spearheaded this conference and made it so accessible, even at the last minute for all our constituents.  I also was very impressed with the Keynote speaker, he was engaging, helpful, available after the talk, and really gave us a great perspective on all this technology stuff.  Sometimes I get a little scared by it, but most of the time I am pretty excited about it.  I will give you another reflection about my final project for reading and writing class at a slightly later date, until then, Long Live GAFE!!!