I always think my weeks will slow down, but then another project comes along and before you know it I am snowed under both literally and physically with all the snow we have been getting. The TRIG and 21 Things grant proposals are both due this week as well as presentations to go along with them. Today, I think the 21 Things presentation went okay and on Friday, hopefully we will wow Michigan Department of Ed. Both of these projects have been making a huge impact on the state and I would hate to see them not approved. I would not be as snowed under though if they were not. It would be rainy with my tears if they are not approved.

From the U.P.

Wow, time flies by when you are having fun. Did not realize I had not posted for such a long time, but the last 1 1/2 months have been a whirlwind with my retirement, trip to Mexico and my work on 21Things4Students. Now, I am getting ready to go back to work! Wednesday, I go back to Ingham ISD on a part time basis and Thursday have a 22i Project Team meeting and iPad session. The four weeks I was off, will feel like they have never happened. What I have gotten done in this time though? Have been doing some assisting with CEP 812 getting it ready for the opening of class on May 6. I am really looking forward to teaching the new content and working with a new group of students. I have a feeling I may have some of my 810 students in the class which will be great to see some familiar faces. We are reading the book by James Paul Gee (2013). The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students Through Digital Learning. So far it is very intriguing and I find myself agreeing with much of what he has said. Have spent quite a few days working with Carolyn, Jenn and Jan on the revisions for 21Things4Students. I think teachers next fall as well as students will be pleased with the changes. We are trying very hard to make the course "fun and engaging" for the students. I talked to a teacher yesterday at the MACUL conference and her daughter is taking the class right now. She said it is the best class she has ever taken! That is so exciting to know that a middle-schooler is truly enjoying our class. Presented at the MACUL U.P. conference on Friday! What a great conference. The U.P. team knows how to put on a conference. The presentations were great, the location at Houghton Portage HS was very nice (even though there were internet glitches and lots of snow), and the lunch was incredible! Fun to see a lot of teachers I have met the past couple of years presenting at the conference. Lastly, our trip to Mexico was wonderful. It was a well deserved relaxing trip for both of us. Tom said he will definitely go back and he is not a fun in the sun person.

Tuesday's thoughts...

I am getting more nervous as each day goes by. I have so many new opportunities to take advantage of, but at the same time it is difficult to leave a familiar environment. My husband and I went out tonight and I bought myself a new laptop as I won't have the advantage of having technology at my fingertips anymore from work. I will miss the tech support too! So much to do in such a little time. I need to move 100s maybe 1000s of files so I can still have access to them. They are such an integral part of what I do and maybe I will be able to delete them in time, but right now they still feel familiar. I will still be involved in the three 21 Things Projects and we are starting a new one for iPads. The 22i grant just gets more and more exciting. Today was working with the BAA and MAC and talking about how we can integrate what they are doing with assessments and their pilots. Why reinvent the wheel? They have the knowledge and modules that we can use to teach teachers how to write good assessments to use with their students. Am finishing up CEP 810 this week and am really enjoying watching and reading their Special Interest Group Projects. I still have access to ones that were created in 812 years ago and while they were good for their time, what is being produced is truly quality work. What will we see in 3-5 years? We never imagined the technology we are using now 3-5 years ago. I still marvel at my two year old granddaughter learning the things she is learning. She was just last week learning how to manipulate a catapult to enable a character to fly. What two year old learns the word catapult and how to use one? Only with an iPad! Check out my Tweets @mjwhite61 and you can see all the presentations that I have tweeted this week! Great job class.

I am beginning the countdown to retirement from Ingham ISD. I only have 5 official weeks left before I contract back to them in the future. I look forward to all the new opportunities I will have (or hope to have) in the education field. I may be leaving Ingham ISD, but I won't be leaving instructional technology education. There are so many neat projects going on. We have http://21things4students.net that we are adding Common Core quests too. I will be spending my first week off in April working on this project! Meeting with MDE to discuss the 22i grant tomorrow and the revisions they would like us to make. More will follow on this. I am very excited to be a part of this project and to make a difference statewide in getting students and teachers prepared for online assessments as well as ensuring they are proficient in 21st Century technology skills. I am enjoying my current MSU CEP 810 class! This is a shout-out to those of you in my class reading this. You all are great and producing some great projects. It was sad to make the retirement announcement to my REMC 13 Ad Council members. Many of them have been my friends for the 20 years I have been in Ingham county. Change is hard, but hopefully good things will happen though they are not replacing my position with anyone. It is simply monetary and s sign of the times. It still makes it hard as I do believe the resources we provide will not be used without the training involved that I have done for years in this position. AS I learn more details about 22i and the transition for REMC 13, I will let everyone know.

22i Grants Not Announced today

It looks like they are not going to make a formal announcement about the 22i Grants today. It is now 5:45 and most have gone home. Next week we meet with the reviewers of the grant and they will let us know the tweaks we need to make on the grant. Hopefully not too many as the teachers I talk to, love the concept of the grant as it is right now. We had a Common Core Standards workshop at Ingham ISD today and it filled up. Teachers and administrators are concerned about the changes and when it comes to education this is really quite HUGE. Teachers have to change the way they teach and assess their students. It will force teachers to change the way they have taught for years. This is a good thing, but I worry about assessing our students to death. If we can build the assessments into our curriculum and use them to assess formatively, then the students will not feel like they are being tested to death. We need to assess our students, but it should be part of the learning process and not one that punishes the student if they don't get it the first time. I will keep everyone informed as we learn more from the State.

I have a created an Edmodo group called iPads in the Classroom. Edmodo is a great way to have a Personal Learning Community to share and collaborate. To join my group just click on http://www.edmodo.com/home#/join/a7dd30feacc71f36efdbef569ace5033 and you will be prompted to join my group. My Group Code is yyzynn if you prefer to join using that. Every day I am getting tips for using the iPad in the classroom as well as learning about new Apps. Joining my group you will stay on top of some of the latest and greatest that I pick up on the street. Please feel free to comment and add your tips too. Let's make this group collaborative!

I had a fabulous time in Virginia with the Institute of Educational Development this week. It is very exhausting traveling and training, but I think I would like to continue doing this. If not with BER, I will do it myself as a private consultant. Though with BER, it is nice as they make all the travel arrangements and everything runs smoothly. The only frustrating thing is that you are at the mercy of the hotel that you are presenting at and their accommodations are not always conducive to training. Monday's room was fine, but Tuesday's was like a bowling alley. I could not walk around the tables and could only walk down a long aisle between the tables. The people in the back could not see the screen it was so far away. People actually wanted to sit up front otherwise they could not see or hear. The participants were great! I love meeting new people all over the United States. It is interesting to hear about their state educational systems. Every state is different and I thought more states were embracing the national common core standards. Every state I have visited seems to want to do their own thing still. I think Michigan is quite forward thinking and we are doing "good" things. It is nice to be getting different perspectives and I appreciate Michigan much more.