Academic Aesthetic

Are you interested in having your K-12 class work with another class in another school for a lesson, project, or other activity? That’s why the Collaborative Lessons group is here!

Just place a pin in our Frappr map, including the subject to which you’d like your lesson to relate. Include an email address in your “shoutout” message, along with any other specifics you’d like to add, and then other teachers will be able to see where you are and what you’d like to do.

Sometimes teachers want to do a collaboration with another class but just can’t think of a good lesson idea. That’s what this wiki is for! If you’ve got a cool concept for a collaborative lesson just go to the appropriate page (or make your own if the page doesn’t exist) and add in your idea.

Don’t worry about mistakes or immature people going in to change the pages in a bad way, every change is saved so we can always go back to the way the site used to be.

Yesterday I arrived at the Hershey Lodge for the PETE & C Preconference sponsored by DEN. (Wow, what a name!) I couldn’t go to the full conference, but this one day event was too good to pass up.

To be honest, it wasn’t truly a one day fling – last night a bunch of DEN members got together to have dinner and socialize for a few hours. While we were still in the lobby waiting to go I had the opportunity to meet David Warlick.

It was quite convenient that I was talking to DEN managers Michelle Adams and Jannita Demian, or I would have never had such a chance encounter. They got hugs and hearty greetings while I got a wave and a handshake.

Dave had no idea who I was, but why should he?

At dinner my wife and I got to sit across from Kathy Schrock and discuss everything from family to educational podcasting.

Kathy had no idea who I was, either.

The next day I had the great honor of meeting Steve Dembo himself, who only recognized me because my hat had “Art Guy” written on it. (He mentioned at the time that I didn’t look anything like he imagined.)

This is the part of the story where I’m supposed to say that after shaking hands with all of these powerhouses in educational technology I’m never going to wash my hand again, but that’s just gross, isn’t it?

There’s a point to this beyond incessant name dropping. You see, I was getting a little worried that I might be getting a little too full of myself. I mean, let’s face it – I’ve got over 2,000 kids that freak out every time I walk into one of their classrooms.

Now, having met these icons of ed tech that are doing so much more than me to further the cause, I think I have a much better sense of self.

After all, I’m way too much of a fanboy to be all that famous, right?

(PS: More info on the conference, including a podcast or two, will be forthcoming as soon as my Powerbook is up and running again.)