Coming Full Circle: From TCEA 2013 to TCEA 2014

It's hard to believe it's TCEA time again.  I'm actually writing this post from the Convention Center in Austin between sessions.  This blog was born here at TCEA last year and I feel like it's been a successful first year.  Who knows what this year will bring--more tech posts, more posts about STAAR prep, more early reading skills--but one thing is for sure, wherever this year takes us, it will be onwards and upwards!
I had my first experience presenting at TCEA this morning and I will be the first to admit I was a little nervous. Luckily for me, I had an amazing support team from CISD, including my own Tech guru, @getheather, a.k.a. Heather Russell, and my amazing co-presenters Valery Medford and Katie Abrams. I also had my own cheerleader in the front row in Courtney Selby.  Though there were a few things I wish had gone slightly differently, overall, I was very happy with the way the presentation went. I said what I wanted to say, timing was good, room was full (with very few early exiters) and I only tripped in front of 100ish people once and didn't even fall down.
In case you were not one of the 100ish people and you missed my presentation, you can find the Prezi for Bloggers Lead the Way! here. My message is and was and always will be this:  If you have something to say, say it.  Say it in a way that is inspiring and up-lifting.  Motivate people to take action.  Be a change agent for improvements.  If you're an expert, share the wealth.  If you're not and you'd like to be, start asking questions. If you read something awesome, pass it along.  We can point to all of the things that are wrong in our schools but until we become the responsible party and start doing something about it, we're only going to see the problems and never be the solution.
Oh, and you can do all of that stuff with a blog.
If you are here at TCEA, what has been your favorite part so far? If you're presenting, drop me a line so I can check it out!
Whether you've been reading from the very beginning or you've just started checking-out  Reading is Elementary, thanks for the support.  Please feel free to leave a comment anytime.  Here's to another year of leading the way to great discussion, eye-opening discoveries, and incredible learning for our students.
@AmyVanHornCISD

TCEA Proposal

This blog was actually born in Austin at TCEA 2013.  I'd been considering starting an educational blog for several months and it was when I was away from my family, surrounded by colleagues, and tons of tech that I decided to go ahead and make it a reality.  For TCEA 2014, I am submitting a proposal for a presentation on blogging. I'm still not completely tied down to exactly what all that presentation would include but I am thinking my major focus would be on how to disseminate information and start discussion through blogging.  As an instructional support person in my district, I have found this blog very effective for both of these purposes.  I work in a fairly small district but it is always refreshing to hear someone from another campus (and my own!) say they read one of my posts and that it was helpful to them.  Also, as an aspiring administrator, I feel that this blog can be a great resource for potential interview committees in my future.  I know that there are other teacher-leaders out there who have a lot of knowledge that they would like to share and I feel that blogging is one way to let others know what is working, what we are reading about, the great things that are happening in our classrooms or in classrooms we have visited, and what trends we are seeing in education.  I would also cover how to use blogs as a classroom teacher and some of the basics for getting your blog started.  I would love to hear your opinions as to whether or not you think this type of presentation would be beneficial.Please feel free to leave a comment--yay or nay!
I have been getting a lot of anonymous comments lately and those are always welcome.  I would love it, however, if more of you felt comfortable enough to leave your names with your comments. I think this could be a great place for us to start some discussions. If you read something and you love it, please let me know.  If you read something and you think I'm way off, I'd like to hear that, too!   Summer is coming up and we know we will all be thinking about next year. What are you planning on doing differently?