Finished the week off with packing and a trip down to the water Pike's Place.  After all of the rain and wind from the last couple of days, it was nice to see sunny, blue sky's!  We walked by all of the fish (I love that smell!) and flowers.

Had to stop by a jewelry maker's stand and pick up a memory.  

Also had to stop by the first Starbucks ever and have a coffee. 

 After a long walk down to Pier 66, we headed back to Pier 54 for a wonderful lunch at Elliot's.

 Cioppino

Great way to end the week!

Started our day today with Google Apps: The Whole Kit and Caboodle presented by Marc Elliott, Director of Information Services at Bethel Public Schools.  Google apps became the "whole kit and caboodle" for Bethel schools in 2010.  They left their previous communications platforms for Google Apps.  They explained their decision making process and their transition/implementation process.  How they provided support/training.  This included:

• Summer Institutes (June and August)
• Technology leader in building trainings
• Evening Classes
• Staff Meetings

They also implemented the following third party programs all of which were free except Glasscubes.

• Aviary
• Easy Bib
• Glasscubes
• Grockit
• Lucid Charts
• Open Class
• Slide Rocket
• Gooru
• Khan Academy

 

The next session I attended was called Engaging and Supporting Today's Learner's presented by Stephanie Hamilton, IT and Learning Technologies of Apple, Inc.  She about changing techology, changing learner expectations and the changing role of teachers.  After examining all the changes that schools are dealing with she discussed lessons that she (Apple) has learned about how to strive for transformation in learning, using the work of Dr. Ruben Puentedura, a researcher from Main.  She also described the importance of the environments where learning is supported and amplified, using the work of Dr. David Thornburg. Grabbed some lunch at Subway before heading to the next session.

 

It was the Jason (Neiffer) and Mike (Agostinelli) show again this afternoon: 30 in 60:  App Edition - 30 Apps for Tech Savvy Teachers.  They showed off (when the internet worked) 30 engaging, interesting and useful iSO apps in just 60 minutes.  It was a fast-paced session and focused on apps for teachers as well as students that we can start using right away.

Had to have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.  Maria and I headed there after our last session.  Joe Dockery and three of his co-workers joined just later.  Enjoyed the company and had some good conversations.  Had to have a little dessert while we were there - Chocolate Coconut Cheesecake......

Headed back to the hotel and relaxed for a few minutes and then headed out for about an hour of walking around Seattle and shopping.

Google SketchUp & More

 Got up around 6:00 a.m. and headed out to the convention center.  Had to stop for a bite first, however.  Started our first session at 8:30 a.m.  Maria attended Stop Motion with Joe Dockery and I attended Google SketchUp with Regina Cain, a regional technologist with Montana State University.

Maria and I got together for lunch at Jimmy John's and headed back to the hotel (in the pouring rain and wind) for a short time.  We headed back to the convention center (still raining and windy) for our afternoon sessions.  

 Maria went to Digital Kits in a Web 2.0 World and I went to Mike Agostinelli and Jason Neiffer's presentation called It's an M&M World!: A Cross-Curricular Lesson Using Google Docs.  Only stayed for part of the presentation as I had an invitation to attend a presentation put on by Schoolwires, which is our new web hosting company.  I am very excited to have a new website platform.  Part of the presentation was done by John Doornbos.  John actually did the presentation to our website committee when we were determining which company to go with.  It was nice to meet him.

Joe Dockery demonstrating a stabilizer that he designed & developed

Had about an hour between the Schoolwires presentation and my next workshop, Shooting and Editing DSLR Video with Joe Dockery.  Used to know all about f-stops and ISO's - now I have to re-learn all of this for video.  I was very surprised at the control you can have over your video and the quality that I decided I will need to pursue this further.  This was only a three hour class and could have been a six hour class.  I have to admit, my brain was pretty fried by the end of the workshop, but well worth it. Finally got back to the hotel around 8:30 p.m. and collapsed!

First Day

Made it to Seattle with Maria Bray without a hitch, except for a lot of turbulence.  Lots of wind in Hamilton, Great Falls, and Missoula, Montana reported.  Didn't have to wait long for the Downtown Airporter and arrived at the Hilton Downtown Seattle around three in the afternoon.  Just enough time to freshen up and catch dinner at the Purple Cafe & Wine Bar.  Had a great lunch/dinner.  I enjoyed GRILLED WILD SALMON (just had to have some seafood) tomato, english cucumber and house tartar while Maria enjoyed CREAMY BASIL PESTO tagliatelle, pomodoraccio tomatoes, pine nuts, lemon zest and parmigiano-reggiano. Had a great table overlooking the street and watched a hard rain/snow shower while dining.  Luckily it stopped when we were done and it was time to leave.

Joe Docker, Digital Painting w/ Photoshop & a Tablet

After a wonderful lunch (and no rain/snow) we headed to the convention center, where we registered for the conference and headed to our first workshop.  Turns out we both registered for the same workshop taught by Joe Dockery, Painting with Photoshop using Wacom Tablets.  Awesome resources, as usual.