Returning to the Land of the Bloggers

One of my goals for the coming year is to be a more active blogger. At first I considered starting a new blog but abandoned that thought. Instead, I will pick up where I left off - somewhere in the middle of my thoughts.

It's summer - a time for relaxation, reflection, and rejuvenation. How's that for the New 3 R's? I'm claiming it and naming it My Personal 3 R's.

I had the opportunity to travel to Philadelphia last month to attend ISTE 2015. This particular conference is a favorite of mine as it encompasses my 2 favorite worlds of education - technology and library information science. I came away with an acute case of conference brains - idea overload coupled with numerous conversations with colleagues and friends while there. What stood out about this year's conference were several themes of interest to me and others: MakerSpaces, Minecraft, and global learning.

Makerspaces: I implemented MakerSpaces in my Learning Commons during the 2013-2014 school year. It continues to evolve or better yet morph as imaginations and ideas merge to create new venues for the kids to explore and create. I'll speak to this in more detail in a future post but for now, just a "crack the door open" experience.

Minecraft: I might betray my age here. I have the 4 books published by Scholastic in my library collection of the Learning Commons at my school. I can't keep these books on the shelves and I have multiple copies of each. "You know you're old when a kinder asks you when you're going to learn how to play Minecraft." That happened to me a few months back so one of my missions in life for the summer was to become a Minecrafter - one who knows how to do Mincecraft. And so I did. I attended a session at ISTE on Minecraft for Beginners. They had 4 sessions of this one and each time I tried to get in the door, they were "sold out" as seating was limited to 52 attendees due to the number of laptops they had for the session. But I was persistent. I decided to get there early for the final session of this one and got in by the skin of my teeth - I was number 52! WOO HOO! And 90 minutes later I and my colleagues in this session were pronounced "Minecrafters". Now I'm ready for my school kiddos - BRINT IT ON, GANG! I'LL MINECRAFT RIGHT WITH YOU!" This alone was worth the trip to Philly from Beaufort, SC where I live.

Global Learning: I enjoyed meeting and talking to folks in the poster sessions who were from around the world. Some brought a handful of school kids to co-present their accomplishments. I know for a fact that there are kiddos at my school who have never seen the ocean even though we are 20 miles from the Atlantic, and who have never left the county. So on my bucket list for 2015-2016 is to bring the world to my kiddos via SKYPE, Google Hangouts and anything else I can discover to use.

I also learned how to make a mobile green screen and plan to use this extensively with the kiddos this year. But I'll save this for another post.

Seems I've developed a strategy for blogging that might just work for me. Typically I can't sit still long enough to write much of anything never mind reflecting on things of interest. But now I am claiming to be a revived or resurrected blogger with goals in mind and a way to accomplish it.

In closing, one of my teachers shared her thoughts with me at the end of the school year. She said "Doc, you are all about the kids and that's what I love about you." "Tis nice to know the thoughts of others especially when they affirm the state of my affairs. Hence the name for my blog, Doc4Kids. Yes, I'm for kids but I also have 4 kids who are now adults with 3 of them having kids of their own. Interesting play on words. Until next time . . .